Number of people without access to power supply still rising
Unfortunately the number of people with no or limited access to electricity keeps rising. In developing countries this is not only true for the population in remote, off-grid rural areas. Also in larger cities power supply is so infrequent that alternatives need to be within reach. As per Lighting Africa in 2009, 589 Mio. Africans did not have access to public power supply. Until 2030 this number will rise to 698 Mio. Africans and 1.3 Billion people worldwide. 33% of the African on-grid households, which do have access to the public system, still have frequent problems with power outages.
The usual energy sources such as generators, kerosene lamps, candles and batteries are hazardous and a thread to health and environment. As per WHO, each year 1.5 Million people in developing countries die of indoor intoxication by using fire or kerosene indoors for cooking or lighting.
All this results in tremendous expenses for the users. In 2009, African BOP (bottom of pyramid, the poorest of the poor) households spent 10 Billion US$ for non-renewable lighting sources, 50% of it for kerosine light. Lighting Africa predicts this to rise up to 11-12 Billion US$ by 2015.
Solar lights are a healthy, environmental friendly alternative. They are safe, don’t cause dangerous emissions and don’t bare any follow-up cost. Since no money needs to be spent for kerosene or batteries after the purchase, it pays off after a pretty short time. One SOLUX solar light saves 35 Liters of Kerosene per year. Charging the phone through the solar panel alone brings savings of 40 - 120 Euros per user per year. –bk