solar forward

Solar Forward

New Approach for Sustainable Energy to reduce poverty

Renewable Energy

• Access to energy should be a basic human right.

• In many places with poverty, the people have limited hours to work when they have no access to light.

• Access to light should not be a luxury with the lowering costs for renewable energy and LED bulbs.

Who gets it first?

• With disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and Tsunami, many people were left without power.

• In many cases, rebuilding may take months or even years, and the vulnerable ones lose their livelihoods.

• Millions of people living in poverty in rural areas also have no access to power.

The Situation

• NGOs and other groups like to support these communities with Solar Energy, but the simple solution is often inadequate.

• With limited budget and millions without power, less than 1% of the people living without power get these kits.

• Most agencies don’t contemplate the fact that people need light post disasters.

Example (Nepal)

• Only 12% of country have access to electricity through renewable means.

• The rest depend on diesel generators, and have no access to clean energy for light and cooking.

• With the earthquake and landslides, more people are left without power.

• Kerosene lamps and battery powered lights are expensive to use.

Example (Nepal)

• Government and development partners provide financial and technical support, but their limited funding and bureaucracy creates huge gaps.

• Many policies made do not consider the people living in poverty, who cannot afford to take up the reconstruction funds which require them to put in more money of their own.

Solution (Nepal)

• Solar Forward is a social movement that will spread the use of sustainable energy in rural communities. This is an innovation model that promote the use of solar energy, partnering with charities and other responsible companies.

• Solar Forward will also create more awareness on solar energy and work with communities in rural areas to increase income.

The productsWe have co-designed three rural solar kit solutions at three price points:

The products

US$30

• The solar kit consists of a 4W solar panel and 3 highly efficient LED bulbs and a controller which has a USB outlet and adapters for the user to charge various cell phones. The kit requires 6-8 hours to charge, providing 1 bulb for 15 hours of energy. The storage is done through high quality lithium polymer batteries of 2700mAh set at 7.3 V thus providing a total power of more than 20 W. The solar panel will charge the batteries in approximately 8 hours.

The products

US$55

• The solar kit consists of a 8W solar panel and 4 highly efficient LED bulbs and a controller which has a USB outlet and adapters for the user to charge various cell phones. The kit costs about US$50 (arriving in Nepal) and requires 6-8 hours to charge, providing 1 bulb 24 hours of energy or 3 bulbs 8 hours each. The storage is done through high quality lithium polymer batteries of 5000mAh set at 7.3 V thus providing a total power of more than 37 W. The solar panel will charge the batteries in approximately 8 hours.

The products

US$100

• The solar kit consists of a 10W solar panel and 3 highly efficient LED bulbs and a controller and a 12V DC ceiling fan which has 5 USB outlet and adapters for the user to charge various cell phones. The kit requires 6-8 hours to charge, providing 1 bulb 50+ hours of energy. The storage is done through high quality Lead Acid Batteries of 23000mAh set at 7.3 V thus providing a total power of more than 167 W. The solar panel will charge the batteries in approximately 8 hours.

Financial models

• The low cost kits are not the real innovation, the real innovation to the access is in the partnership and financial models.

• We are also currently looking for more partners on the field in other countries to prototype and try it.

Pay Forward Model

• People who can benefit the most economically from the solar kit, by being able to work at night are given a solar kit and a responsibility.

• They need to put $1 every time they use the light to earn more money.

• 3 months later, $50 will be collected and another kit will be given to them to give to someone else in the village.

• The entire process of giving- earning- donating is supervised thoroughly.

Solar Guarantee

• Integrating village into banking network.• A bank guarantee initially deposited for the

villages with the loan period of 6-7 months. This would also help to build a villagers credit history and integrate them in the banking network.

• The bank guarantee once the loan is paid off is used for a new batch of solar kits, in case of villager/villagers not able to pay the loan the guarantee is utilized by the bank.

• The interest rates under this model are generally low.

Microfinance

• Micro financing amounts to Partnering/Working with Microfinance organization that are empowering people to learn new skills.

• Training is provided by partners or Microfinanaceorganizations before loan is given.

• An initial loan is given to the people by a microfinance company for the solar kit, the people would use the solar kit to increase productivity, earn more and pay back the loan.

Gamification

• The Solar Forward Model taps into the human potential to become altruistic and their potential to give back to the community and help. To not make the model feel transactional and push people to give back more to the community, we will also be Gamifying the Solar Forward model. This will potentially encourage people to give more than once and help create exponential impact of the project.

1X 2X 3X

30$

unit

Certificate of Pay

forward completion

Video recording and

upload to the Solar

Forward YouTube

page

Certificate of Pay forward

completion

Name in the Solar Forward board

in the community building


completion

Name in the Solar Forward

board in the community

building with their pictures

Free Upgrade to 100$ unit

55$

unit

Certificate of Pay

forward completion

Video recording and

upload to the Solar

Forward YouTube

page


completion



Free 30$ unit to provide to

another member of the

community


completion





100$

unit

Certificate of Pay

forward completion

Video recording and

upload to the Solar

Forward YouTube

page


completion



Free 55$ unit to provide to

another member of the

community


completion





Dangers of Social Intervention

• Traditional charities treat their beneficiaries as the “problem” and use guilt to get donors to support indefinite giving.

• Passive giving can create a wrong mindset where recipient think they deserve the help and do not need to do anything to get out of their situation.

Active Recipients

• If beneficiaries of aid can participate and give back, they are part of the solution and with their better understanding of the problem, they can help many others in the community.

• No one can get dignity from receiving passively.

• Active recipients can be rolemodels for others in the community thus reducing the problem.

Other Potential Impact

• Instead of being passive recipients who get something for free, they have the responsibility to strive to work harder to give others a solar kit.

• The group of individuals getting the most out of this project would be students and people with dual jobs.

• E.g. A farmer who may also be a tailor, can earn a few more dollars a day working at night with light


• Students in rural areas, facing lack of electrical facilities have this general problem of not being able to study once the sun goes down, they have to be dependent on kerosene lamps and studying for long hours under those cause long term irreversible damage to the eyes.

• Fumes from kerosene lamps are not healthy as well.


• By understanding the dynamics of the communities, other empowering programs can be initiated as well, testing with various communities and prototyping solutions, gaining knowledge and data on which method works which can lead to other innovative solutions.

Call to Action

• Solar Forward has success in Nepal and we are calling for other partners to work with us to test these models with their communities.

• We are seeking NGOs working with post disaster areas, rural areas without electricity and other communities who need access to sustainable energy to help us with the solar forward program in their communities.

Call to Action

• We are looking for other innovators who have empowering programs want to reach these communities to work with us and collaborate on innovative solutions.

• We are looking for forward thinking companies and sponsors who believe in prototying solutions and empowering communities to support our programs.

Call to Action

• We are looking for change makers who would share the word and help look out for other supporters.

• We also want to hear your feedback on how we can impact more people.

Contact Information

Feel free to contact me, Robin Low at [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/socialhub/

Lets connect.

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/socialhub/

solar forward

Government & Nonprofit