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| SolarAid project |
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SolarAid tests have shown a solar LED lantern can go for up to 10 days non-stop on a single battery charge, meaning the batteries could last 20 years or more if only used once a week. The batteries are recharged with one-watt solar panels, which are made locally with imported amorphous silicon and wooden frames. The PV panels do not degrade over time and are sold in the West with at least a 10-year warranty. All other components can be replaced when needed as they are sourced locally.
Poor communities in Malawi use kerosene for lighting, which is highly toxic. SolarAid's project in Malawi will introduce clean, affordable solar lighting into rural homes.
Barely 2 percent of the rural population in Malawi has access to electricity. The other 98 percent relies on expensive kerosene for lighting, single-use batteries for radios and the occasional charging of their mobile phones - amounting to 20 percent of their monthly income. One microsolar panel can answer all these needs, leading to major energy savings for rural households.
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Dear Village People,
'In one hour the Sun produces enough Free Energy to power the world for a year!' So says SolarAid, a non-profit organization working in Malawi, one of the neediest countries in Africa. The power needed to light even the darkest regions on earth is at hand and beginning to bring hope to remote villages, out of the way towns, and rural homes throughout the developing world. The amazing New Energy News story out of Malawi is much about Village Energy in action. It is also a perfect opportunity to help this life-changing project with a generous gift to SolarAid.org. Read on ... |
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The Power of the Sun |
 SolarAid is training young Malawians to become solar entrepreneurs so that they can build and sell small solar products such as solar lanterns and solar chargers for mobile phones and radios. The project is aimed particularly at young people affected by HIV/AIDS, in order to provide them with more income. Right now, two billion people have no access to electricity. They rely on burning fuels such as kerosene and wood for light and heat, which is highly toxic and expensive. Having solar power improves people's health, income and education. That's because solar power can enable poor people to cook food, pump clean water, run fridges, light homes, schools and hospitals, farm more effectively, and much more. |
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Donate and Help Light UP MALAWI |
 Mirriam is 18 years old and lives in Malawi. She has two children, one brother and one sister. Her father died of AIDS and her mother is now also sick with HIV AIDS. Every day is a struggle: finding food for her children, caring for her mother, looking after her other sick relatives - all this with next to no income.
Yet she's now found hope in the ground-breaking project carried out by non-profit SolarAid with funding from another non-profit, TRAID.
To learn more about SolarAid AND/or to make a donation in support of one or all of the SolarAid projects, visit the website at www.solar-aid.org.
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Special thanks to Nick Sireau, SolarAid's Director, for his motivational article posted on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. SolarAid is working with a number of local organizations in Mzuzu, in the north of Malawi. These partners include the Center for Appropriate Technology, which specializes in alternative approaches to technology for development, the St John of God Vocational Training Center, which has an excellent carpentry workshop for building wooden frames for the solar panels, and the Mzuzu Technical College, which will train solar entrepreneurs in sales and marketing.
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Be sure to watch our film selection, The Power of the Sun.
Thanks in advance for giving generously. And remember, you never lose by giving. Until next time,
Love, Joy, Peace & Free Energy 
David Cutter
VillageEnergy / Pleiades-Enterprises / Drive-electric.com | | |
