How Solar Lanterns are Transforming the African Continent
By: Andrew M. Herscowitz, Coordinator for Power Africa
“Even in the darkest place, the light of a single candle can be seen far and wide.” — The late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as related by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United Nations on September 24, 2009.
Five years ago, a prominent African working to bring electricity to the world criticized those who said solar lanterns provide electricity access. He said that solar lanterns just “shine a light on poverty.” At that time, I tended to agree. But after learning about and seeing the impact that solar lanterns have on people, and understanding how solar lanterns are displacing expensive, dirty, and dangerous kerosene, I changed my mind.
We see again and again how African lives improve every day thanks to solar lanterns. Many people quickly move on from solar lanterns and buy larger solar home systems that power light bulbs, televisions, electric razors, and even water pumps. And as people have access to electric light and electrical tools and appliances for the first time, they begin to emerge from poverty.
In Africa, the light of a single solar lantern is not just seen far and wide, but it charges a mobile phone, makes people more productive, increases safety, and improves the quality of life.
Today, our team is in Israel — a country that just one year ago joined the U.S. Government’s Power Africa effort, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development, to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Israel is one of many countries that have been contributing to the Power Africa’s $54 billion partnership — one that already has brought light for the first time to more than 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
The people of Israel are celebrating Chanukah, known as the Festival of Lights. In honor of this partnership and the miracle of light that we are working together to bring to every African, Power Africa is sharing the stories of Africans themselves, whose lives have been transformed by a simple solar lantern and by this partnership with more than 140 companies worldwide.
Please watch this video to hear their stories.
Here are some of our favorites uses of solar lanterns.
With my solar lantern, I can:
- Read at night. There’s not a parent in the world who would question the developmental value of reading with or to your children before they go to bed.
- Walk Home Safely After Dark. Nobody likes to walk along an unlit path. People are vulnerable to physical attacks, or can get hit by cars. Solar lanterns increase personal safety by making users more aware of their surroundings and makes others more aware of them.
- Keep Predators Away from My Livestock. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, many ranchers and farmers have found that hanging solar lanterns from fence posts will keep predators away, protecting their livelihood by minimizing loss. One study found that 63% of households reported reduced loss of livestock to wild animals as a result of using solar lanterns on their corrals, saving on average $100 per household per year.
- Go to the Toilet in the Middle of the Night. Try going to the bathroom in the dark. Or worse, go ahead and fiddle around for some matches to light your kerosene lantern when you wake up from a deep sleep because nature calls.
- Fix my Bicycle, Motorcycle or Car When It Breaks Down At Night. If you’re on the road and your vehicle breaks down, the last thing you want to worry about is finding a kerosene lamp and a match. And of course, not everybody has a smartphone that can be used to “swipe up” and create an instant flashlight.
- Go Fishing. Many fishermen in Lake Victoria on Uganda who earn their livelihood from fishing at night now take solar lanterns with them instead of using kerosene — saving money and increasing their safety.
- Play with Friends at Night. Children love talking and playing around a safe, solar lantern into the wee hours of the night, without the harmful fumes or danger from kerosene — and nobody risks getting burned.
- Charge my Mobile Phone. Most solar lanterns now come with a USB port that allows you to charge a mobile phone and other devices. More phone use means more access to internet and mobile money, and a greater sense of connection to the world.
- Play Music. What? Play music with a lantern? Some of the newest solar lantern models come with USB ports and a built-in speaker so that people can listen to their favorite tunes.
- Stop Spending Money on Kerosene. Many governments spend millions of dollars on kerosene subsidies so people in rural areas can have a very dangerous and unhealthy flicker of light at night. Even with the subsidy, people are spending up to $.50/day on kerosene. That’s lost money. they never recover. Kerosene frequently causes fires. Solar lanterns are helping eliminate kerosene and saving millions of dollars. The sun is free and shines quite bright after dark when you capture it and store it in a battery.
Power Africa recognizes that solar lanterns are not the ultimate solution for universal energy access. People need access to an adequate amount of electricity to power productive appliances such as grain mills and water pumps to provide them with meaningful employment, before we can claim they have access to modern electricity.
Solar lanterns are a good start on the energy access staircase, so Power Africa will stop counting solar lanterns as connections when that number reaches 20 percent of our total energy access goal. Nonetheless, approximately 40 percent of a leading solar home system company’s customers started first with a solar lantern. And 97 percent of that same company’s customers in one survey said that their quality of life “improved very much” after acquiring a solar lantern. So we are confident that solar lantern users will advance to higher level electricity access systems.
Solar lanterns are inexpensive, safe, and transformative. They do much more than shine a light on poverty — they shine a light of hope far and wide.
