Powering Opportunity: The Economic Impact of Off-Grid Solar A new publication from the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) brings positive news that households using small scale-solar power in East Africa are reporting a rise in economic activity, with improvement in income and job opportunities. These findings demonstrate the economic benefits of off-grid solar power in the … Read More
Washington DC, USA, April 27, 2018— The off-grid solar sector has returned to robust growth, reversing a brief dip in sales that was mostly due to localized shocks, according to a new report released by the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global program and the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA). The latest Global Off-Grid Solar Market … Read More
Describing the off-grid sector as “a force that could fundamentally reshape energy provision in some of the world’s least well-connected places—and create vast business opportunities in the process,” in the view of participants at the recent Off-Grid Solar Forum in Hong Kong, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Michael Gold has posted a new blog post about … Read More
Lighting Global is preparing to submit quality standards for pico-solar products and for plug-and-play solar home system kits to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) by May 1, 2018. This will make it easier for national governments to adopt standards that are fully harmonized. This, in turn, will benefit the sector by minimizing the amount of customization required, reduce … Read More
Join us on Wednesday March 21st, 2:30pm – 3:30pm CET as speakers from Lighting Global, ESMAP, GOGLA, and Dalberg share key takeaways from the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo and the 2018 Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report, and discuss what’s next for the off-grid solar energy sector. Register here.
Please see this message in Chinese below. We have revised the standards for pico-solar products and for solar home system (SHS) kits to ensure that they continue to serve as the global benchmark for product quality. We extended the scope to include products up to 350 Wp, strengthened the standards to address reported instances of … Read More
The off-grid solar market continues to grow rapidly, and during the second half of 2015, over 4 million off-grid branded and quality verified solar-powered devices were sold—totaling more than US$110 million in revenue. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia accounted for nearly 95% of sales. In Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda saw the strongest uptake … Read More
In 2015, Lighting Global and the regional Lighting Africa, Lighting Asia, and Lighting Pacific programs officially extended support to larger (10W to 100W) solar home system (SHS) kits in response to consumer and industry demands. The Quality Standards for Solar Home System Kits describe the requirements products must meet if tested under our SHS kit … Read More
Will electricity in developing rural areas spread more like cell phones than land lines? These startups think so. After years of fits and starts, startups and big businesses are finally starting to pay attention to the solar market in rural corners of the developing world. Over the past few months, a number of high profile … Read More