Each of the installation will serve the needs of at about 250 people.
Intasave describes reaching its funding goal as a major milestone in its effort to reach over 500 communities across Kenya, South Africa and Mozambique over the next three years.
Having passed the $100,000 target, INTASAVE Energy is extending the deadline to January 1st 2016 to allow further contributions to be made through its not-for-profit crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
“The more funding we can raise at this stage, the more solar nano grids we can roll out to communities in Africa," said Arran de Moubray, Head of Renewable Energy, INTASAVE-CARIBSAVE Group.
"Anyone can contribute from as little as $10 to help families in off-grid communities not only with household electricity, but to be able to mill corn, incubate chickens, run water pumps and manage micro enterprises, in a clean and sustainable way using SONGs – electricity is essential for development,” de Moubray continued. “Kenya was chosen as an ideal starting point in Africa because 30 million people (75% of the population) in Kenya are without electricity, 95% of whom are located in off-grid rural areas, which are simply not viable for larger solar installations”.
SONGs reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the use of kerosene for lighting and diesel for power generation. School children doing their homework will face less health risks to eyes and lungs as solar power removes the need for kerosene lamps in the home.
They also open up micro-enterprise opportunities that will help rural communities become self-sustaining, by providing power for small-scale industrial activity such as milling corn, incubating chickens for breeding, battery charging, refrigeration, copper welding and businesses like hair salons and internet hubs.
Speaking on the success of the project, Dr. Murray Simpson, Senior Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science, and Chief Executive Officer of INTASAVE-CARIBSAVE Group, said: “This project is not about generating a short-term fix or a handout, it’s genuinely empowering people to make their lives better, so reaching our target is a fantastic achievement.
"It is vitally important to us that each installation provides a self-sustaining beneficial enterprise for families and the local communities, and this long-term approach is why our project is going to succeed where other attempts have struggled to deliver.” Murray concluded: “This is just the beginning, and we envision this growing into a large scalable project on a global level,” Simpson said.
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