| Type | international development charity |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Location | White Lion Street, London, UK [1] |
| Focus | solar energy |
| Website | http://solar-aid.org/ |
SolarAid is a British international development charity that promotes the use of solar energy to help reduce global poverty and climate change. SolarAid installs solar photovoltaic systems, for community centres, medical clinics, schools and other communal buildings. It also trains local communities in do-it-yourself solar skills. SolarAid's first project in Malawi was supported by Solarcentury, a solar energy company based in the UK.[2]
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The objectives of SolarAid are:
SolarAid obtained charitable status in August 2006.[4] It came out of Solarcentury, now the UK's largest solar company,[5] when a group of volunteers there came together to launch SolarAid's first project in Malawi.[3] Its founding Chairman was Jeremy Leggett, also Executive Chairman of Solarcentury, and its founding Executive Director was Nick Sireau.
SolarAid's second project was in southern Tanzania, with an organisation called Neema Crafts in Iringa.[6] SolarAid trained a group of deaf and disabled people to build and sell microsolar products.
SolarAid started to expand in 2007 through funding from several sources, particularly TRAID for Malawi[7] and the Global Cool Foundation for Zambia.[8] These projects comprise a combination of macrosolar installations for schools and community centres, and microsolar trainings for small entrepreneurs.
SolarAid identifies entrepreneurs in developing countries, who it then trains in business planning, market research and solar skills.[9] It helps them set up their solar microbusinesses so that they can build and sell solar lanterns and solar chargers for radios and mobile phones.[10] SolarAid research showed that the average household in a developing country spends between 10-20% of its income on kerosene for lighting, single use batteries for their radios, and charging their mobile phones. Kerosene smoke is toxic, single use batteries are polluting, and mobile phone chargers need access to the electric grid, which most rural areas in developing countries do not have and probably will never have. SolarAid’s solar entrepreneurs convert kerosene lamps into solar lanterns using light emitting diodes (LEDs, which are cheaper, robust and use little energy) and build solar chargers from local materials and imported solar glass.[11] These solar products can then fulfill much of the average household's energy needs, leading to a substantial increase in their income because they no longer need to buy kerosene or batteries. The solar entrepreneurs make money and reinvest their profits into their microbusinesses in order to grow.
SolarAid aims to convert every single kerosene lamp in Africa into a solar lantern.
SolarAid’s macrosolar work involves installing larger solar systems in schools, community centres and health clinics. Barely 2% of rural populations in most African countries have access to the grid, forcing them to rely on kerosene, candles, car batteries and firewood for fuel. Schools cannot teach in the evenings; community centres cannot offer services such as educational videos or vocational training; and health clinics cannot power basic medical equipment such as vaccine fridges. Yet a standard 300 watt system installed on the roof of a school, community centre or clinic can solve all these issues.
Following Solarcentury's example, a number of other companies have offered support:
Foundations have also provided help, from the Big Lottery Fund's grant to research setting up programmes in Tanzania and Zambia, to assistance with UK management costs from Avina Stiftung, the Sylvia Adams Trust, the Polden Puckham Foundation and others.