This article had me thinking about the water being shut off in Detroit.
Some solar alternatives are becoming available. As time passes the industry will capitalize on this need and more can be done, as well as done cheaper. There is hope! There are many micro-business opportunities to aid Africans and help them start a small business and improve living conditions. This is one that eliminates the smoke and danger of fires.
We take electricity for granted in the developed world, but did you know that 1.6 billion people – a full one quarter of the world’s population – don’t have access to reliable electricity? The consequences are far-reaching:
The lack of electric lighting impacts children’s ability to do well in school and prevents people from working once the sun has set, and dangerous kerosene lamps fill the air with soot and CO2 emissions.
Using a micro-consignment model,
Solar Sister provides entrepreneurs with a ‘business in a bag’ – including inventory, training and marketing support to bring clean energy directly to their customer’s doorsteps. Every dollar invested in a Solar Sister entrepreneur generates over $48 in economic benefits in the first year alone, through earned income for the entrepreneur and the cash savings of her customers.
For example, a
solar lantern costing $18 brings $163 cumulative savings over a five-year period by displacing kerosene usage. Another $45 solar lantern plus mobile phone charger brings $225 in cumulative savings in displaced kerosene usage and mobile charging fees over the same period. The lanterns are one-tenth the cost of solar home systems, and customers benefit from increased savings, extended working hours, better indoor air quality and extended study time for children.
As the primary consumers of household energy,
women are critical for the successful adaptation of clean energy solutions. Through Solar Sister’s program, women become their own bosses and create sustainable businesses for themselves. And they use their natural networks of family, friends and neighbors to provide the most effective distribution channel to rural and hard-to-reach customers.
Solar Sister started by training ten women entrepreneurs in Uganda in 2009
Read more:
Solar Sister Empowers Women to Bring Solar Energy to Rural Africa | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
Read more:
Solar Sister Empowers Women to Bring Solar Energy to Rural Africa | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
Enter
Solar Sister, a nonprofit that is eradicating energy poverty one solar device at a time while empowering women with economic opportunity. The organization distributes solar-powered products like
lanterns and
cell phone chargers through women’s rural networks in Africa.
Read more:
Solar Sister Empowers Women to Bring Solar Energy to Rural Africa | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
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Been around since 2013
http://inhabitat.com/pay-as-you-go-...can-communities-a-cheaper-energy-alternative/
The PAYG model allows customers to pay an up-front fee of around $10 for a solar charger kit that includes a two- to five-watt solar panel and a control unit that powers LED lights and charges devices like mobile phones.
Energy is then paid for as and when it’s needed, either in advance each week, or when families have enough money to spare. It normally takes about 18 months to pay off one of the solar kit, after which the
electricity is free to the new owner.
PAYG is similar to existing models in Africa that allow hundreds of millions of Africans to purchase mobile phone minutes and kerosene fuel incrementally.
So far, families find that instead of paying $2 to $3 a week for kerosene, they pay less than half that for solar energy.
Azuri isn’t alone either;
Angaza Design and
M-KOPA are two other companies that offer PAYG services across the continent. Their customer bases are testament to the popularity of
affordable solar power. Azuri has over 21,000 customers in 10 countries, M-KOPA already has 30,000 customers, and Angaza is on track to reach 10,000 customers in the next nine to 12 months.
Kerosene is the fuel of choice for families living off the grid in sub-Saharan Africa – however it inflicts a heavy toll on people’s health and costs up to $8 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Compared to the 10 to 15 cents per kWh paid by residents in the US and UK, it costs 400 times more to charge a mobile phone in rural Kenya.
Solar power is a promising alternative, but it often costs too much for African families to buy outright – which is why companies like
Azuri Technologies have come up with a Pay-As-You-Go model (PAYG) for solar kits.
Read more:
Pay-as-You-Go Solar Panels Offer African Communities a Cheaper Energy Alternative | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
Read more:
Pay-as-You-Go Solar Panels Offer African Communities a Cheaper Energy Alternative | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building