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Little sun lights up Zimbabwe communities

Technology
The need for alternative power sources in Zimbabwe has seen it being one of the biggest African markets for solar lamps and projects, with over 40 000, German high-quality solar-powered LED lamps recorded to have been sold in Zimbabwe, as of May 2016.

The need for alternative power sources in Zimbabwe has seen it being one of the biggest African markets for solar lamps and projects, with over 40 000, German high-quality solar-powered LED lamps recorded to have been sold in Zimbabwe, as of May 2016.

By Cecilia Kamuputa in Germany

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The lamps, developed by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and German engineer Frederik Ottesen are sold in Zimbabwe through Alight Little Sun Zimbabwe (ALSZ), a community-based trust formed by workers who were sponsored by the Non-Governmental Organisation Plan International.

The organisation employs over 45 sales agents in 10 districts in Zimbabwe.

About 340 000 LED lamps have been sold worldwide since the inception of the project in July 2012.

Speaking at their Little Sun offices in Berlin, Press and Marketing Officer Rabea Kross said in Zimbabwe, Little Sun was fulfilling its goal of addressing the need for light in a sustainable way that benefits communities without electricity and creating local jobs.

“We tried to create a shop to sell the lamps in Zimbabwe once, but it did not really work out as we tried to do it formally, whilst the majority of the Zimbabwean population is concentrated in the informal sector. Now we ship the Little Sun lamps to the Alight Zimbabwe Trust team which has their own way of distributing them,” she said.

Kroos added: “Sales for the lamps have not been that great in Europe because people usually have electricity all the time and we also do not have enough sunlight. However, in Zimbabwe, we see there is a need for an alternative for light and there is plenty of sunshine to charge the lamps.”

She said their lamps have had a steady acceptance in rural areas, where most households rely on Kerosene lamps for light and that Little Sun lamps as the have been dubbed, provided light so that businesses could remain open when there are power cuts.

With lack of power most of the times, households are spending an average of 10-25 percent of their monthly budget on the fuel to have power, an alternative which is not only directly dangerous to users but also harmful to the environment.

“Kerosene lanterns are a common off-grid light source used to combat power issues, yet this alternative yet an evening of breathing in a kerosene lamp’s emissions is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes, and their open flames carry the risk of burns and house fires.” According to Olafur Eliasson: “Little Sun is a wedge that opens up the urgent discussion about bringing sustainable energy to all from the perspective of art to raise awareness about the unequal distribution of energy today.”

Following its wildly successful Kickstarter campaign in September 2015, Little Sun also launched its long-awaited solar phone charger, Little Sun Charge.

Featuring an intuitive charge and battery indicator, a powerful battery (4400mAh) and a handy inbuilt lamp, Little Sun Charge is equally as useful to those wanting a smart, portable way to charge their phone, camera, e-reader, MP3 player and other small devices on the go, as it is for those living without electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The chargers would be costing an average of $35 and one can charge two smart phones after putting it out in the sun for five hours. This would serve as both a phone charger and a lamp,” said Kross.

Little Sun currently has distribution in over 10 African countries, including in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, and Ghana, as well as in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the United States.