News and views

SolarAid’s SM100 is teaching teachers

The Design Museum’s Teacher Summer School took place on 23rd – 25th July and was led by designer and creative director of Future Product, Henry James. Henry helped to design the SM100 light that makes up part of the Design Museum’s handling collection and is a staple of the Museum’s national outreach programme. Over the […]

Ruth Zunje – ‘Malawi is moving forward!’

  Ruth Zunje lives in the village of Chamama in Kasungu district. She is a new SunnyMoney pay-as-you-go (PAYG) customer, which enables her to pay for her solar product in instalments. PAYG helps those who could otherwise not afford solar products to overcome the finance barrier and SunnyMoney were one of the first companies to introduce PAYG in […]

This solar fridge has been cooling medicine for 8 years

  Back in 2010, as part of our work in Zambia, SolarAid installed solar energy systems on clinics and schools. This month Karla Kanyanga, our Operations Director in Zambia, revisited some of the locations to deliver more solar products and to check on progress. In 2010 we were not distributing solar lights as we do today. […]

The solar car and the bed that can charge a phone

  We love this little story from the BBC about Samuel Karimbo from Kenya, who has been inventing all sorts of clever gadgets for nearly 10 years. In this short video he introduces a few of his innovations including a solar car and a bed that can charge a mobile phone by capturing energy from […]

Zero Footprints Photography Competition with over £5,000 in prizes

We are delighted to announce that Zero Footprints, the amazing photography website which donates to SolarAid, are running their inaugural 2018 Photography Competition and offering over £5,000 worth of prizes. 100% of all the money raised through their ‘Donate an Image’ scheme (after print and transaction costs) comes to SolarAid, which they describe as “an amazing […]

SolarAid lights in Syria

The team at SolarAid are proud to have made a tiny contribution to crisis-affected civilians in Syria. By collecting funds from our donors, NEF, and in working with our longstanding supporter Keith Neal via Syria Relief, the UK’s largest Syria-focused charity, we have supplied SM100 and phone charging solar lights to refugees in Ghouta, Idleb and Homs, […]

13 years old, Vayun, builds a solar powered energy system

  Hi, I am Vayun. I am 13 years old, and I live in Singapore. Recently I got interested in renewable energy, and did many experiments to generate electricity. Solar was the cheapest and most reliable source I found. With just S$75, I built a solar powered energy system that can light up a small […]

The making of the SM100

  This great little video, from the Design Museum, shows the process that went into the design of the SM100 solar light. DesignIt-MakeIt-UseIt is an outreach project for primary schools, run by the Design Museum for Flagship Open Futures Schools. The project supports teachers to use design as a route into creativity and problem-solving in […]

A night walk around Mandevu Village in Malawi – Part 2

  This is Part 2 of a blog from our CEO, John Keane, who took a night walk around Mandevu Village where we hope to run the pilot of Project Switch, in Malawi. Read Part 1. Gladys lives in a small house in which seven children sleep. It’s hard to imagine how there is enough room. As […]

Video: 9 year old George’s ingenious invention

This little video, from Mandevu village highlights what families in Malawi are doing for basic lighting at home. It demonstrates “the gap” which is being created by the majority of energy projects in Africa – which do not address energy access for the poor, leaving them locked in poverty. There is a huge amount of work to do to […]