Tag Archives: poor
Low-Income Housing Residents Going Solar
Until recently, the low-income housing community has been a tough nut for the solar industry to crack. Low-income housing developments have historically avoided going solar due to the obvious difficulties of incorporating high-cost, discretionary photovoltaic (PV) systems into affordable housing. However, a unique mix of local, utility, and federal support combined with a little financial [...]
The Energy Crisis in Pakistan
Pakistan, a country battling many political and economical issues, is currently facing around 6 GW of power shortage that is gradually choking the country’s energy system. The main reason behind the huge shortfall of energy is decades of mismanagement of the industry that ignored the economic and population growth in the country, leaving a huge [...]
Solar In a Suitcase
A group called We Care Solar has developed an innovative product that provides solar electricity to health care workers in developing countries. Before she received her Solar Suitcase, Esther Madudu, a Ugandan midwife, delivered babies at night by holding a cellphone in her teeth. Open a suitcase and you’ll see a combination of LEDs, batteries and solar [...]
In Focus: Business Call to Action (BCTA)
Low-income Africans and South Asians will have access to solar power thanks to an initiative called Business Call to Action (Bcta), supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) that encourages private sector efforts to develop inclusive business models that can have both commercial success and a positive impact in development. The project will be executed [...]
Solar in the Bag
That’s the hope of MIT researcher Andreas Mershin, Ph.D., who’s developing a material that could be delivered in a bag and then mixed with local plant materials like grass clippings to create photovoltaics. Actually, Mershin wants to simplify it even more. “Ideally, there is no bag at all, just a one page cartoon flyer with [...]
Solar Approaches ‘Diesel Parity’ in Pakistan
Pakistan is a energy deficit country like most other South Asian countries with inadequate investment in the electricity sector and the distribution infrastructure. The cause of the energy crisis in the country is due to massive corruption and misgovernance, a theme which will be familiar to citizens of India as well. Pakistan has been looking [...]
Solar for the Poor
Energy Bulletin has a thought-provoking article by Carl Pope in which the author suggests ways to increase electricity inclusion in poor countries and make it clean at the same time. “The best way … is to launch a global initiative to provide solar panelsand other forms of distributed renewable power to poor villages and neighbourhoods”, [...]
Solar Power Off the Grid
After the Durban talks last month, climate realists must face the reality that “shared sacrifice,” however necessary eventually, has proven a catastrophically bad starting point for global collaboration. Nations have already spent decades debating who was going to give up how much first in exchange for what. So we need to seek opportunities — arenas [...]
IndiGo: Pay-As-You-Go Solar in 3rd World Countries
A UK company called Eight19 has announced a solution called IndiGo, a pay-as-you-go, personal electricity system for the developing world. The system combines solar energy and mobile phone technology and allows users to light their homes and charge mobile phones as a service, paid for using scratchcards. Eight19 wants to increase access to electricity to [...]
In Focus: Solar Empowerment
It’s no secret that many third world countries struggle to produce and provide, what we consider, basic necessities for its inhabitants. Many of the things we take for granted in developed countries: access to clean water, (mostly) reliable electricity, technology etc. are not easily accessible and often come at a premium. However, solar technology is [...]
Clean Energy Market Emerges for India’s Rural Poor
The market for clean energy products is growing among India’s rural poor, a massive segment that consists of 114 million households and more than 60 percent of the nation’s population of 1.15 billion, according to a new report. Nearly half of India’s rural poor do not have reliable access to electricity and more than 85 [...]
SolarAid works to create a solar Africa
Yesterday, we featured a piece on economist Jeffrey Sachs,who supports the concept of using solar power to combat poverty indeveloping nations. Today, we look at an organization that is doingjust that. SolarAidis a non-profit based in London that combines market forces andinternational aid to tackle two of the world’s most important problems:global poverty and climate [...]