Solar Power In Africa
Global Cool Foundation supports the delivery of solar technology in Zambia to give communities and households access to clean and renewable energy. The programme is delivered by SolarAid, a separate UK registered charity: Global Cool Foundation grants funds from our partnership with Vodafone UK.
In Zambia there is a pressing need for clean, inexpensive energy for poor, rural families. The great majority of households use kerosene and candles for lighting and wood for cooking. Kerosene is not only expensive but damages both the health of the users and the environment.
This project provides people living in rural Zambia with affordable, sustainable and clean energy options reducing their reliance on CO2 emitting fuels like kerosene. It has two main strands:
- The installation of solar photovoltaic cells onto 100 schools, community centres and health clinics. The end users are trained to manage and maintain the systems and how to use those systems to generate income.
- The training of local entrepreneurs to build and sell solar charging devices, which can power radios, solar mobile phones and solar lamps. Trainees receive technical training, business planning and marketing support that helps them set up self-sustaining income generating enterprises. The microsolar products can then be sold to rural populations providing them with a viable alternative to kerosene.
Both aspects of the project deliberately include income generation and training as this will allow the project to endure into the future and become financially self-sufficient.
Impact
The Solar Power Project has already had an impact: reducing carbon emissions, improving the health of the most disadvantaged, improving community services and literacy through access to light, and income generation.
Feedback from local people and politicians has been positive:
“These micro solar panels and lights are exactly what are needed in rural areas. People are burning kerosene and candles every day and spending money on batteries all the time. These products will give people a choice.” – Doel Chilimboyi, District Commissioner, Mumbwa district, Zambia
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