IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Energy January 2012 | Page 7

Revolutionizing the way to make energy affordable for everyone
For example, in Malawi, a SolarAid survey
showed that 62 percent of households use
kerosene lighting: 41 percent use hurricane
lanterns and 21 percent use homemade lanterns.
The same survey also showed that 41 percent of
locals were using battery-powered lanterns or
flashlights, and 21 percent use candles.11 Nine
percent reported using firewood as a lighting
source, presumably both as a secondary output
from a fire used for cooking, and by burning
sticks for short-term lighting. People with access
to a mobile phone also sometimes use the phone’s
screen for temporary illumination.
Fuel and batteries for light are a major drain on
the household budgets of potential customers.
A typical household in Malawi, for example,
spends more than a third of its monthly income—
about MK5320/month or US$3012 —on lighting
and power. Half of that is spent on kerosene for
lighting. For the head of a typical household,
an hour’s work pays for 1.4 days of light with a
homemade kerosene lantern and 3.5 days with a
hurricane lantern. In the U.K., by comparison, an
hour’s work pays for 458 days of light from the
electrical grid.13
As demand for hydrocarbons and energy
continues to increase around the world and in
Africa, the price of kerosene is expected to rise.14
Higher prices will require African households
with no access to the electrical power grid to
allocate more of their income to lighting, reduce
their use of lighting, or seek alternative sources
of illumination.
Solar-powered lighting is not widespread in
Africa. Large macrosolar installations, with
rooftop-sized panels that generate enough power
to light several rooms or small appliances, can
cost over US$5,000,15 and are therefore used
primarily to power offices or staff housing of
governments, international non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and multinational
corporations. Single, micro-solar lamps, powered
by a panel no larger than a piece of paper, are
generally not available in retail markets, and
despite some efforts to raise awareness, most
Africans remain oblivious to their existence or
value.

Access to light also means access to energy
Every source of light relies on a source of energy
that has been collected, concentrated, stored, and
delivered to the user. Such energy is useful for
a variety of purposes beyond the generation of
light—but the use depends on the form in which
the energy is stored.
Energy stored in the form of kerosene fuel is
used for cooking and heating in addition to its
use in lamps. Gasoline and diesel fuel are widely
available as well, and can easily be siphoned
from automobile or truck gas tanks when needed.
Demand for these uses contributes to the wide
availability of kerosene, gasoline and diesel in
African villages, towns and cities.
In rural and peri-urban communities in Africa,
one of the most prominent uses of electrical
energy is charging mobile phones. Phones
have become nearly universal in Africa, but the
reach of service coverage greatly exceeds the
area where individuals have easy access to the
electrical grid.
This need is being met in many places by using
batteries. Large batteries can be charged in areas
with grid connections and then transported
by car or bicycle to remote locations where
entrepreneurs charge for the opportunity to
recharge phones, lights, and other devices.
EGG-energy, an independent power distributor,
for example, is running a pilot in Tanzania in
which power from the grid is packaged into
portable, rechargeable 12V batteries that can
power lights, radios, and mobile phones for a
household for about three nights. The batteries
are rented in exchange for a subscription fee
and once depleted, can be exchanged for a fully
charged battery by paying a small swapping fee
at a nearby EGG energy charging depot. To make
access easy, EGG-energy has partnered with
local convenience stores (“dukas”) and delivery
companies to provide pick-up and drop-off
services.16 Many independent entrepreneurs use
a similar business model with re-purposed car
batteries. Conventional consumer batteries (e.g.
AA or D size batteries) are used to power small
portable radios that many households use for
entertainment and information, even in remote
villages with little access to technology.

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