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Life Without Light in Rural India: Why Solar Lanterns Can’t Compete With the Grid
Chanda sometimes wakes long before dawn to sweep her house and beat the husk off her rice. Now in her 70s, Chanda has long since lost her sight. The sound of her morning activities reverberates down the narrow, unpaved street of the Adivasi colony, through the mud brick walls of the homes stacked either side, waking her neighbours. Next door, Leena complains but is sympathetic. “Living without electricity is like being blind,” she says. “You move around your home and cook without being able to see. Even in the day it is the middle of the night.”
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- solar
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A Loan and a Light: One Acre Fund, in partnership with GreenLight Planet, aiming for 100K solar lamps in Kenya this year
In 2011, One Acre Fund began offering cost-saving solar lamps made by Greenlight Planet as an optional add-on to our loan package. In 2014, One Acre Fund delivered 72,900 lamps to farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. By the end of 2015, we expect to have delivered over 100,000 more.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
- Tags
- smallholder farmers, solar
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Weekly Roundup: Of Powerwalls and power dynamics, could a grid-less future hurt the energy poor?
A billionaire rolls out a technology that only the global 1 percent can afford, so why on Earth would this be relevant to the poor? It turns out Elon Musk’s new battery storage system, the Powerwall, could have big impact in energy poor regions – good and bad.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- Base of the Pyramid, solar
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Solar-Powered ATMs to Deliver Clean Drinking Water in Pakistan
Punjab province is set to launch an innovation for water-short Pakistan: Solar-powered ATMs that dispense clean water when a smart card is scanned.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- solar
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Ending Energy Poverty? The Solutions Already Exist
Last week the charity SolarAid announced that it had hit a milestone by reaching 10 million people with clean, safe light. The social uplift this will bring is extraordinary – solar lights impact poverty, health, hunger, education, enterprise and the environment. At the same time, the announcement shows much more; that the potential of solar to empower rural African off-grid communities is beginning to be realised.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- impact investing, solar
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Priority Status for Solar Power Will Aid Smaller Players
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently revised its priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines. Now medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy (RE) will form part of priority sector, in addition to the existing categories. This has brought excitement to the stake-holders.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, renewable energy, solar
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Goodbye, Kerosene: How Solar Could Transform Africa
Africa is in the midst of a technological revolution, and it's increasingly solar powered.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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GoSun Grill: The Only Solar Cooker That Cooks Day or Night
Earlier this year, we featured the GoSun Stove, a compact fuel-free cooker powered by nothing more than the sun’s rays. Now, the forward-thinking company is trying to launch their GoSun Grill—a larger and perhaps improved version of the cooker since it feeds many more people.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care
- Tags
- renewable energy, solar