Illuminating the Developing World: Solar Energy
Posted by Meghan Garrity on April 14th 2008 in NEED Magazine
photo | courtesy of SunNight SolarAs prices at the pump rise, with the cost of oil soaring over one hundred dollars a barrel, the demand for renewable energy solutions is increasing. Solar energy has recently been discussed as a viable alternative energy option, especially in southwestern states where the sun is plentiful.
While here in the US we are looking to diversify our energy sources, two billion people in the developing world live without electricity. In these places, darkness brings studying and microenterprise activities to a halt. Kerosene is most prevalently used to provide light to the home, but it is an incredibly dangerous and unhealthy resource. It is extremely flammable, and since it is often used for cooking, house fires are common. The health effects are perhaps even worse: it is estimated that people who rely on kerosene inhale the equivalent of two packs of cigarette smoke per day.
This description paints a grim picture of the current electrical situation in developing nations, but in terms of alternative energy options, many developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, seem to be ahead of us as they are already pursuing solar energy options. One of the criticisms of solar as a solution is that it is too expensive. While this is true, prices are falling and many of the organizations featured below are using microcredit loans to provide sustainable solar solutions.
photo | courtesy of Mpala Community Trust
Many US-based organizations are helping to bring solar energy to countries in central Africa and southeast Asia that have long hours of sunlight throughout the year. Solar energy is radically transforming lives and revolutionizing education, health, agriculture, and economies; light in the home extends the time students can work on homework and allows entrepreneurs to continue working after dark. Solar-powered water pumps are changing the agricultural sector, allowing communities to farm in the dry season, normally an unproductive time due to a lack of sophisticated irrigation possibilities. Providing energy to medical facilities is dramatically impacting health in the developing world with doctors able to work at night and operate equipment such as microscopes, small hand pieces and charge batteries that need small amounts of energy.
In the next issue of NEED, we will profile four organizations working to introduce solar energy to the developing world: The Solar Electric Light Fund, based in Washington D.C., the Mpala Community Trust, based in Kenya, SunEnergy Power International based in Oregon, and SunNight Solar based in Texas. These four organizations use solar power in different ways to achieve the same goal: transforming lives with energy.
photo | courtesy of SunEnergy Power International
The Solar Electric Light Fund is working to implement an innovative solar powered drip irrigation system in Benin, to assist subsistence farmers in the rural district of Kalalé. The Mpala Community Trust is designing a solar powered camel pack that refrigerates vaccines allowing this health organization to transport, via camelback, medicines to remote villages in Kenya to people who have never been immunized. SunEnergy Power International is bringing solar energy to refugee hospitals in Thailand revolutionizing medical treatment in the region. Lastly, SunNight Solar has created a solar powered flashlight being distributing across the African continent supplying light to homes that have never had this simple luxury.
photo | courtesy of Solar Electric Light Fund
If solar energy and these organizations interest you, look for the full story in the upcoming Issue 5 of NEED. It details the amazing work of the organizations highlighted above, and their accomplishments by tapping into a resource abundantly shining down on the billions of people without electricity.
