Each year, SunConnex makes a donation to a charity of its choice. SolarAid will be the beneficiary of this specialised PV product distributor’s festive gesture of goodwill. SiunConnex’s donation will be invested to build PV installations on schools, community centres, clinics and orphanages.
Barely 2% of rural Africa has access to the grid yet many regions of Africa have the highest levels of sunshine in the world. SolarAid therefore works with people in the most remote and disadvantaged areas to help them tap into an abundant source of free, clean and renewable energy - the sun! The charity offers people in these communities the possibility of starting up a business in solar lighting products.
To do this, S0larAid uses what it has termed “SunnyMoney”, which provides a sustainable way out of poverty for entrepreneurs, and a means to end reliance on harmful kerosene in their community.
SunnyMoney is SolarAid’s microfranchise brand which uses a pioneering technique called microsolar to bring light to the poor whilst creating jobs and offering an alternative to costly and polluting kerosene lighting. Local entrepreneurs receive marketing and commerce training to enable effective distribution of portable solar-powered lighting systems and to ensure the lasting success of their new business. “With SunnyMoney, everyone is a winner: the franchisees, their families, their communities and the environment,” says SolarAid.
SolarAid was established by Dr Jeremy Leggett, who is also the founder of Solarcentury, the UK's largest solar company. Solarcentury is a driving force in corporate social responsibility and donates 5 percent of its net profit to SolarAid. Solarcentury has been the key player behind SolarAid, and numerous Solarcentury staff volunteer for the charity.
SolarAid’s other supporters include the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Vodafone, Scottish and Southern Energy, Barclays, the Man Group Charitable Trust, The Times Christmas Appeal, the Gold Standard Foundation, TRAID, and SunPower, SunPower. The charity’s foundation sponsors include the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, the Waterloo Foundation, the Bodyshop Foundation, and the Global Cool Foundation.
SolarAid is a member of the Global Village Energy Partnership, an organisation set up with support from the UK's Department for International Development. GVEP helps developing countries set up energy action plans and that provides assistance to their small and medium energy enterprises. It is also a member of British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND), the UK's broadest network of voluntary organisations working in international development, and of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
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