“Our mission is to leave no one in the dark by 2030 so we focus on small, affordable pico solar lights. Since 2008, we have sold almost 300,000 lights to dispersed, hard-to-reach communities across Zambia,” explains Karla Kanyanga, SunnyMoney Operations Director.
Over the past few years, load shedding has become a debilitating reality for grid-connected Zambians and is driving solar sales in urban areas. When SunnyMoney applied for the Challenge, electricity in the capital Lusaka routinely cut for 12–16 hours a day, seven days a week.
“About 30% of the Zambian population has access to the grid, but only 4% of the rural population has access. With load shedding, the grid-connected population is looking for alternative energy sources. Our urban light sales have increased ten times this year, but we are committed to our mission and will continue to provide services to the rural poor.”
Many solar actors have come to Zambia over the past decade to address growing energy needs, but there remains minimal infrastructure to manage products at end-of-life.
Read the full blog at Efficiency for Access, click here.