The City Council of Figueres and Alchimia make possible the solar kits project
Saturday, 15 October 2011 20:18
Access to electricity is still an option impossible for billions of people worldwide. Without electricity, the lighting in many countries continues to be based on paraffin candles, kerosene lamps and similar devices. These systems provide a soft light and cause serious health problems, affecting mainly the eyes and respiratory system. Kerosene also often causes severe burns to children, and has a great cost that many families cannot afford.
Finally, the lack of adequate light prevents the children continue their studies after helping parents in family work (cattle, orchards, cleaning). In the tropics there are twelve hours of night, the only ones children can use to study, and without light most end up leaving the studies.
Solar energy is a good solution to this problem, and Sol Solidari aims to introduce solar kits in Kaliro district and the city of Jinja. They are very simple and economic systems, composed of a small solar panel, a battery, LED bulbs and a cell phone charger. Even more simple is the cheapest solar lamp, which has a single point of light.
The project envisages setting up a commercial structure, where women from the NGO WomenFirst advertise and sell these systems, providing microcredit and other saving systems when necessary. This will provide jobs for women going through difficult situations, especially while it promotes the substitution of pollutant paraffin and kerosene lamps for clear, clean and environmentally friendly lighting. Solar kits are manufactured in the same country by a local company called Village Energy Uganda.
Thanks to the economic collaboration of the City Council of Figueres and the company Alchimia, this project has already begun and is expected to sell about 500 units of solar devices in the coming months. Once the commercial structure has been assembled, it is expected that the business can be self-maintained, so that many more families will benefit from solar lighting in the future.
