A piece of art that aims to make a profit for poor people across the world and be a useful tool in areas where there is no electricity was unveiled Thursday, by Britain's Tate Modern Gallery as part of the 2012 Olympics cultural festival.

Artist Olafur Eliasson said that his artistic piece -- a solar-powered, hand-held, plastic lamp -- aimed to be a cheap light for developing countries, and especially for areas outside the reach of the electricity grid.

"From the beginning I wanted to create a sense of community, making something physical and addressing something that is not in London but goes on in the whole world," said the Danish-Icelandic artist.

The plastic light, which Eliasson has named Little Sun, is about six centimeters across, and is made from bright yellow plastic in a shape that looks like a child's drawing of a sun or a bright flower.

At Tate Modern some of the galleries will be in darkness at selected times, so visitors will use the Little Suns to view the paintings.

But the more practical use is to provide a light source for people living in areas outside electricity grids, and one which is cheaper than the ubiquitous kerosene oil lamp.

A gallery is also devoted to explaining the issues behind Little Sun, casting light on the fact that 1.6 billion people live without access to mains electricity.

Eliasson hopes his piece of art can bring some cheap lighting to these people, create work for them, reduce their household expenses, and improve their quality of life.

"Part of the art was the business model," said Eliasson, "so that the further along the product chain you went, the higher the profits for those at that part of the chain were."

"It's made in factories in China. It's a very affordable lamp, produced in a very high volume. The main objective is low price in order to make a success in terms of delivery and scale," said Eliasson.

Initially they hope to sell 400,000 lamps, and contracts have been signed for mass delivery in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Local tradesmen will be able to buy for about 5 U.S. dollars and sell for 10 U.S. dollars.

Frederik Ottesen, the engineer who worked with Eliasson, said the lamp was designed to give more light for a longer period at a cheaper price than a kerosene lamp.

Ottesen explained the ideas behind the mass production of the Little Suns.

"The plastic cannot be recycled because recyclable plastic would not last in the sun and this needs to be in the sun for the solar panels to recharge the batteries. We hope the whole lamp can be recycled; after three years just unscrew it and replace the batteries," he said.

Tate director Nicolas Serota said it was a project that had social and economic potential for the rest of the world.

"We have launched this at the moment when the eyes of the world is on London, but part of this project is to remind everyone there is the rest of the world. That while the Olympics continue so do the problems, so do the challenges across the world," Serota said.

It has the best chance of all the arts projects from the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival to "leave a lasting legacy across the world" said Cultural Olympiad director Ruth Mackenzie.

Eliasson has exhibited before at the huge Tate Modern Gallery on the South Bank opposite St Paul's Cathedral.

His 2003 exhibition "The Weather Project" caught international attention, and more than 2 million visitors came to view the installation.

For that exhibition, he created a giant glowing sun that dominated the enormous former turbine hall at the gallery, which had been built as a power station.