Every six months, Lighting Global and GOGLA publish the Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report. The market intelligence series is based on sales data collected from GOGLA members and Lighting Global associates. The global market share of these affiliates is around 30% for pico products (<11 Wp) and 60-80% for larger systems. January – June 2018 … Read More
An Industry Framework to Evaluate Performance of PAYGo Solar Businesses Solar home systems (SHS) and other solar powered appliances are made affordable through innovative pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) financing. PAYGo jointly addresses the challenges of energy access and financial inclusion for the more than one billion people — mainly rural and low income — who remain off-grid. … Read More
Chinese Speaking Marketing & Business Development Intern Lighting Global is the World Bank Group’s platform to support sustainable growth of the international off-grid solar market as a means of rapidly increasing energy access to the one billion people without grid electricity. Through Lighting Global, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank work with … Read More
Much like a platypus, a pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar company can be hard to classify. PAYGo companies combine elements of modern electric utilities that provide clean energy services, retailers that sell durable goods through diverse distribution channels, and financial institutions that provide leasing to make valuable assets affordable for low-income customers. Confusion about PAYGo business … Read More
Opportunities for Growth IFC’s Daniel Shepherd, Head of Energy & Water Advisory Services for Sub-Saharan Africa, leads an exciting online discussions about the opportunities for growth in the off-grid market. The pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) business model is proving to be an effective approach in delivering electricity access through distributed solar, and the sector has gained significant investment … Read More
Solar home systems and other solar powered appliances are made affordable through innovative pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) financing. PAYGo jointly addresses the challenges of energy access and financial inclusion for the more than one billion people — mainly rural and low income — who remain off-grid. This nascent and dynamic industry is populated by young companies with evolving … Read More
We revised the Quality Standards for solar home system (SHS) kits and will begin using these new standards immediately. The new version now allows SHS kits that include non-plug-and-play connectors (such as screw terminals and binding posts) to undergo testing and participate in the Lighting Global program. To qualify, the products must still be sold as … Read More
In 2017 and as part of ongoing efforts to bolster the off-grid solar market, Lighting Global Quality Assurance tested a group of top-selling non-quality verified solar products in five domestic markets across Africa and South Asia. All 17 evaluated products—purchased from retail stores in Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Tanzania—failed to meet the Lighting Global … Read More
The Lighting Papua New Guinea program has brought solar energy to one-fifth of the country’s population. KUPIANO, Papua New Guinea — Until recently, Angela Sinai’s four children couldn’t do their homework at night. When darkness fell on their village of Kupiano, a few hours down the coast from the capital of Port Moresby, the … Read More
The international Finance Corporation’s Lighting Papua New Guinea program is building markets for, and promoting the use of, modern, off-grid lighting products in rural Papua New Guinea. With 300 days of sunshine in many parts of the country, there is great potential to harness solar power for businesses and households.