solar lanterns

The Solar Lanterns working group

There’s a clear link between poverty and access to light: countries with the lowest levels of electrification often have the highest levels of poverty. Without lighting, nightfall often means that adults have to stop working and children have to stop studying—two critical activities that could otherwise help communities escape their burdens.

This working group is expanding access to solar lighting technologies among rural communities. Its goal is to link the international lighting industry (including storage, electrics and solar) with local system integrators, financers and service providers.

For local communities, this transfer of technological knowledge will strengthen their capabilities to design, develop and deliver high-efficiency, high-quality, reliable and affordable lighting products and services. For the industry, it will catalyze the undeveloped, high-growth rural lighting market by providing cutting-edge technologies and know-how adapted for local challenges.

By making these connections, this working group will build strategic partnerships to develop, finance, and deliver modern lighting products and services.

Planned Activities

• Technological innovations and knowledge transfer.
• Strengthening and expanding locally acceptable and replicable business models.
• Linking existing channels for delivery of technological and commercial services.

In the first year, these activities focus on exploring and strengthening existing business models, delivery channels and knowledge exchange in Pacific Island Countries, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.

The working group will operate a “Core Group” and specific “Experts Group” with a mandate to scale-up from project to program mode and involve a larger and broader network.

Recent News

LIGHTING A BILLION LIVES (LaBL)

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), with its vision to work for global sustainable development and its commitment towards creating innovative solutions for a better tomorrow, has undertaken an initiative of 'Lighting a Billion Lives' (LaBL) through the use of solar lighting devices.

The Campaign aims to bring light into the lives of one billion rural people by replacing the kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar lighting devices. This will facilitate education of children; provide better illumination and kerosene-smoke-free indoor environment for women to do household chores; and provide opportunities for livelihoods both at the individual level and at village level. In terms of physical targets, it translates into 200,000,000 solar lanterns in use, assuming that each solar lantern benefits five members of a family.

Read more.

SCOPING STUDY COMPLETE IN CAMBODIA AND INDONESIA

Convened by TERI, this working group conducted two scoping studies in Cambodia and Indonesia during October and November of 2009. These studies aimed to better understand the current status of off-grid lighting in these countries and identify opportunities and potential for solar lanterns. To draw their conclusions, the study team made fields trips and met with various stakeholders, including government officers, business practitioners and associations, financial institutions, and NGOs.

The study identified a number of important findings, including several business and financial models for off-grid lighting; problems with the current lighting approaches in the off-grid areas; the market potential for solar lanterns; possible means of project interventions; and potential local partners.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES FOR 2010

To identify potential business and financial models, this working group plans to organise a stakeholder consultation workshop and a working group meeting in the first quarter of 2010 in New Delhi, India.  Anticipated participants include most members of the working group as well as other stakeholders and potential partners.

Further Reading

Energy Policy on Solar Lanterns for domestic lighting in India: Viability of Central Charging Station Model prepared in June 2009