Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Vitalite Senegal sells Solar Home Systems (SHS) essentially in off-grid rural areas replacing mostly disposable handheld flashlights and expensive grid extensions. We sell on a Pay-as-you-go credit basis for a maximum of 3 years to make it affordable for customers with poor purchasing power. SHS's also allow the use of DC appliances for productive use such as phone chargers, water pumps etc.

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Africa is almost completely absent in the global climate movement because of several reasons. It is only a small contributor to global climate change compared to other continents and it is generally a part of the world with a disproportionate number of Least Developed Nations. Hence it's voice is rarely heard because of poverty in general and consequently little resource to be active on this global platform. Nevertheless Africa carries a disproportionate burden of global climate change. It is a cruel irony that, in many experts‚ opinion, the people living on the continent that has contributed the least to global warming are in line to be the hardest hit by the resulting climate changes. Thus by promoting the use of solar energy in Africa, out of all continents, we help the most vulnerable region and least heard region in the world of the global climate movement. It is expected that regions with already a history of poor rainfall will get even less. The Sahel region is certainly the hardest hit region in terms of drought in Africa. The Sahel region is comprised of about 10 countries extending from Senegal on the West Coast to Eritrea on the East Coast. By focussing our activities on Senegal, we cover a potential of 16 million people out of an estimated population in the sahel of about 130 million, meaning more than 10%. In addition to empowering the African voice and within Africa the sahelian voice, we offer with our Solar Home Systems primarily light to off-grid populations. The electricity we offer may be used in different ways but the most tangible immediate effect is light in the darkness. In Senegal darkness covers almost 12 hours per day, throughout the year which means youth who is deprived of light cannot read or study for a large part of the night. By offering light young people are profiting enormously from our Solar Home Systems, which means empowering a large littgle-heard population in the global climate movement. Like wise a strong case can be made for women too. By offering light at night women can do so many household tasks that would otherwise need flashlights or polluting kerosene lamps, which are luckily not often used anymore.

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