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Ray of Sunshine Blog

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:01:10 -0400

Picture: Courtesy of Ben Gurr/The Times. Children playing in Malawi

Blogger: Kat Harrison, Social Impact and Research Manager

Tumblr: http://sunrisekat.tumblr.com

It’s Friday, which means another beautiful insight in to the impact of our work from our Social Impact & Research Manager, Kat Harrison.

This week Kat and her team have been doing some fundamental follow-up research in Malawi. They have been interviewing parent-teacher association members to find out if there are any unforeseen negative consequences to our School Campaigns.

This type of research is crucial to our ‘business solutions’ model. In order to ensure maximum impact of our solar projects it is essential that we listen to our customers and evolve our model as we go. It is precisely this level of detail that has enabled us to grow our sales figures from 250,000 solar lights in November 2012 to 500,000 in June 2013.

Kat will be doing a full review of all her findings in the near future, but in the meantime here are a couple of positive responses she received;

Mr Banda at Mpitiula School in Salima told us:

“Our goal is to make sure that all children are educated so we treat them equally...I am just proud of the solar lamps in our area as now people will not be buying kerosene lamps as initially they did.”

Rabson Kamankhwazi, a PTA member from Michulu School in Salima district said:

"There are no repercussions to parents [who don’t buy a solar light] but we make sure to explain to them how good they are to them and their life... we treat all children the same as we know that school is the future for these children. As a PTA member, I am just happy with the initiative that SolarAid is doing.”

To read the full Ray of Sunshine Blog click this link.

Solar sales continue to soar

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:16:39 -0400

We have just received official confirmation from our SunnyMoney teams in Africa that we have smashed through the half a million solar light barrier.

Our teams sold a further 58,000 lights in May taking us up to the grand total of 517,265. That’s a potential reach of over 3 million rural Africans.

Not bad for a charity that only began its solar projects back in 2006.

As stated in a previous article, the majority of our sales have come in the last few months. We have refined our distribution model, catalyzed demand, earned consumer trust and shown the world the life changing capabilities of one small solar light.

Three of our teams even managed to eclipse their best monthly sales figures.

All research indicates that this trajectory is set to continue. There are still over 500 million people living without one of modern life’s basic essentials – clean, affordable light. We know the demand is there and are confident that we can transfer our solar projects in to other countries.

News of our impact is already making headlines. Google recognized the scale of our projects by making us a Global Impact Award winner, many other organisations are now beginning to emulate our work and The World Bank and Lighting Africa are supporting solar projects. We are catalyzing the market. The future is looking brighter for everybody.

Of course, this is just the beginning of a long and exciting journey, but one which we are sure will bring relief to regions that are locked in to a cycle of fuel poverty - empowering millions to strive towards better education, nutrition and healthcare standards.

We are an international charity that never shirks a tough challenge and have set our sights even higher this year. We have sold half a million solar lights in our six year history. We intend to sell a further half a million by the end the year.

Find out how you can help Make it a Million here.

As if you needed further proof?

With impeccable timing our Social Impact & Research Manager, Kat Harrison, and her team have undertaken some research in areas of Tanzania and Kenya as yet untouched by our solar projects.

Kat and her team note that in Uasin Gishu, Kenya, over 80% of those interviewed have no access to electricity or a regular income, with some spending up to 40% of what they do earn on kerosene just for lighting. The situation is more startling in Dodoma, Tanzania, where over 70% of households do not have a regular income and a staggering 98% are without access to electricity.

In both regions nearly all those interviewed said they would be interested in buying a solar light but did not know where to get one from.

The good news is of course, that both of these regions will soon have access to solar power through our School Campaigns allowing children to study longer, families to save money and households to reduce indoor air pollution.

Read more about Kat and her team’s findings by clicking the links below.

Uasin Gishu - Kenya

Dodoma - Tanzania

Ray of Sunshine blog

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:51:01 -0400

Above: Kat and the team in Senegal

Blogger: Kat Harrison, Social Impact and Research Manager

Twitter: @sunrise_kat

Tumblr: http://sunrisekat.tumblr.com

Sunrise Kat's Ray of Sunshine Blog comes from Zambia this week where her team have been talking to Mika Phiri, a farmer from Chadiza district of Zambia.

Read on to find out what Mika has to say about the d.light S1 which he believes 'has no negatives'. Mika states that the light has enabled him to undertake a number of activities in the evening now such as bathing and cooking and his children can study longer at night.

Kat and her research team have just begun their impact projects in Zambia so stay tuned for more Rays of Sunshine coming from that area soon.

Click here to read Kat's latest blog and find out the size of the impact one small solar lamp can make.

What do you think? Tweet your comments to @solaraid

Follow Kat on Twitter: @sunrise_kat

A big thank you for your awesome support

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:36:06 -0400

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John Keane - SunnyMoney MD - thanks our supporters

Once again, everybody at SolarAid would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to those who supported us in the Google Global Impact Challenge. We really do have the most fanatical, fun and fantastic followers in the solar system.

We must also take this opportunity to thank the Google Global Impact team who worked tirelessly around the clock to ensure the campaign ran without a hitch.

We managed to mobilise a huge horde of supporters, with thousands doing more than just vote. People everywhere encouraged friends, relatives and networks to vote too. Our solar message spread throughout the digital galaxy faster than the speed of light.

Conservationists, renewable energy enthusiasts, climate change activists and economists all joined the SolarAid campaign. We had fire stations, knitting clubs, cycling teams and schools giving our work the thumbs up. We received votes and messages of support from all over the globe including India, China, Africa and the US. The whole world seemed to get behind our goal to eradicate the kerosene lamp from Africa.

But the love didn’t stop when the ballot closed. Once the results were out we were immediately bombarded with messages of support and good will. Click here for a little snapshot of some of the tweets we received.

SolarAid’s Google Global Impact Award is going to impact on over half a million people and represents a huge step change for a small charity with big ambitions. The half a million pounds will enable us to move an extra 144,000 solar lights in rural Tanzania and train 400 school-leavers as solar sellers – creating a sustainable solar market and a whole new generation of solar entrepreneurs.

We have also been making many more headlines since Monday with articles in the Telegraph, Renewable Energy World, The London Evening Standard and Wired, all of whom could see the transformative power of our solar projects.

However, this brilliant win is only one leg of an exciting journey. In a continent where over half a billion people live without access to clean, affordable lighting – a basic human need just like food, shelter and water – we need to keep up the momentum to reach even more rural communities, so we can continue towards our goal of eradicating the kerosene lamp from Africa by 2020.

It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be exciting. But the outcome is going to be phenomenal.

Sign up here to join us on the journey.

Google Global Impact Challenge

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:58:43 -0400

We did it! Thanks to your amazing support and backing we have been named one of four winners in the Google Global Impact Challenge 2013.

As one of the chosen winners we will receive a £500,000 Global Impact Award and support from Google to help us achieve our ambitious goal of eradicating the kerosene lamp from Africa by 2020.

Amazingly, it was you - our fantastic followers, supporters and advocates - who gave us the backing we needed to ensure a bright future for over half a million rural Tanzanians. This means that our pilot project to train a new generation of solar distributors and get an extra 144,000 solar lights in to rural Tanzania can begin in earnest.

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SolarAid CEO, Steve Andrews, said:

“We cannot believe the overwhelming support we have received from so many individuals and organisations over the past 10 days. I would like to thank everyone who voted for SolarAid and helped spread the word. It is fantastic to know that so many people can see the huge impact that one small solar light can have, and are willing to get behind our work to eradicate the kerosene lamp from Africa.”

We received support from all around the world for our solar projects, including many African organisations, renewable energy advocates and fellow charities, who can see the impact that we can have with one simple idea. We would like to say a big thank you to all those involved in our campaign. Keep your eyes peeled as we will be expressing our gratitude in other ways over the next few days.

This really is an outstanding achievement when we consider some of the great projects we were up against. A big congratulations must go to the other three Global Impact Challenge Awardees CDI Apps for Good, Integrity Action and the Zoological Society for London who thoroughly deserved a share of the spoils for their fantastic projects.

We believe this is the start of something great here at SolarAid. We have already taken massive strides forward in the last 12 months and are confident that this additional project will be the catalyst for an even bigger impact next year.

Thanks to you, we are now on the brink of creating a sustainable market for solar lights in Africa and bringing clean, affordable light to millions throughout the continent.

Pippa Palmer, SolarAid MD concluded:

“Taking part in the Global Impact Award has been hugely energising. We’re grateful for Google’s support to bring the world’s attention to the devastating consequences of kerosene lamps. We’ll be building on the fabulous momentum we’ve achieved to garner further support and raise awareness and funds for SolarAid’s vital work”.

London Firefighters get behind SolarAid

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:50:59 -0400

London Firefighters got behind SolarAid in our bid to win a Google Global Impact Award. With voting ending at 23:59 on Friday 31st May the challenge is certainly heating up.

The charity which wins the most votes for its project to tackle ‘the world’s toughest problems’ and ‘transform lives’ will recieve £500,000. Our ambitious goal is to eradicate the dangerous kerosene lamp from Africa by giving the 598 million people living without electricity access to clean, safe solar lights.

Switching from kerosene to solar lights saves families up to 20% of income spent on fuel for lighting, improves education and saves lives. Kerosene is a toxic fuel which is often drunk accidentally by children and contributes to the indoor air pollution that kills at least 2 million per year. Replacing open kerosene flames with solar lights also has huge safety advantages: 95% of deaths from fire and burns worldwide occur in the developing world.

Firefighter Ian Allen told us: “We regularly see the devastating effects of fire in people’s homes and we are really happy to support Solar Aid in their quest to eradicate dangerous kerosene lamps and replace them with safe, environmentally friendly lighting for future generations.”

Winning the Google Global Impact Award would allow SolarAid to get solar lights to 144,000 families in Tanzania, improving the lives of over half a million people.

Sunrise Kat updates

Tue, 28 May 2013 12:17:55 -0400

Above: Two team members in Senegal showing their support

Blogger: Kat Harrison, Social Impact and Research Manager

Twitter: @sunrise_kat

Tumblr: http://sunrisekat.tumblr.com

In amongst all the Google Global Impact Challenge activities our dedicated Social Impact & Research Manager, Kat Harrison, has taken time out of her busy schedule to write two blogs.

The first blog gives an insight in to an exciting new project Kat is overseeing in Senegal. The Light Libraries Pilot gives even the poorest families the chance to use clean, efficient lighting without having to pay for it straight away.

The scheme is designed to highlight the benefits of solar power to those who may not normally consider it an option. Pupils are able to borrow lights from the libraries to take home for a free trial. The scheme is supported by The World Bank and we are quietly confident that this will pave the way for further work in the region.

Kat's second blog is another instalment of her Ray of Sunshine series. This time Kat speaks to Weakness Mwenelupembe from Karonga district in Malawi. Weakness bought a d.light S1 and notices that “A lot of things have changed. The house is brighter and the children are happy. There is now no coughing in the house”.