News and views

Guest Blog: The solar for peace initiative

This is Joseph Karanja. Joseph is a solar superstar. He’s using SunnyMoney solar lights as a symbol of peace between communities in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Here’s his latest blog about his solar for peace initiative. Keep up the great work Joseph. Eldoret, the capital of Uasin Gishu County, once an epicentre of violence is […]

A new home for research & impact

You may recall from some of our previous blogs that we were in the process of looking for a new home for our award-winning Research & Impact department. Well, it looks like we’ve found one, but we can’t talk about it just yet. We can confirm that Kat, our Director of Research & Impact, will […]

Solar lights and gender equality

Solar lights improve opportunities for girls. With savings made by families they can often afford to send more children to school and with a free and clean source of light in the evening everybody gets a chance to study, not just the boys. With Goal 5 of the Global Goals in mind we explore the […]

Ethan goes electricity free for 5 days

Ethan went without light and gadgets for 5 days! He raised a phenomenal £1,700 for SolarAid, saving families over £67,600, which would otherwise have been spent on extremely hazardous ways of lighting their homes. In Ethan’s words, “I’ve seen how a small amount of money can create such huge and sustainable change to children’s health, […]

Kenya: A beacon of light in East Africa

  Kenya is the fastest growing solar market in Africa thanks to its reputation for being a hub of East African entrepreneurship. Our social enterprise, SunnyMoney, has sold nearly half a million lights in the last few years, reaching over 3.2 million people. That equates to around $175 million in savings over the lifetime of […]

300,000 Ugandans accessing clean light for the first time

   In November 2014 SunnyMoney opened its newest office in Uganda with help from the UK government. Only 15 million people have access to electricity in Uganda, leaving 31 million without power. Across the nation, 63% of families use toxic kerosene for lighting which, in this landlocked country, comes at a particularly high cost: 25% […]

Solar lights and the Global Goals

Today, world leaders meet in New York to get behind the Global Goals: fighting poverty, injustice and climate change. Our work building sustainable markets for solar lights directly underpins Goal 7 – Clean Energy – but solar lights hit many others too. 10 goals in one in fact. Here’s a brief step by step summary. […]

Solar is the solution to Zambia’s energy shortage

Severe drought in Zambia has left the country grappling with electricity shortages as hydropower accounts for over 90% of the nation’s grid supply. In the midst of energy-saving blackouts, SunnyMoney’s sales have soared – as savvy Zambians choose to invest in reliable solar power. More than 90% of Zambia’s electricity is hydro-powered by three major […]

Tanzania and the price of success

  The off-grid energy market certainly looks a lot different today than it did just a few short years ago. When SunnyMoney first started selling lights in early 2009 there were around 40,000 on the market. The last Lighting Global figures taken from Dec 2014 suggest that figure stood at around 7.2 million, and that’s […]

Impact Week & the Sustainable Development Goals

It’s impact week! It’s that time of the year when we share with you all the amazing things you’ve helped achieve over the last 12 months. We’ve put together our latest impact report to keep you abreast of the latest developments and to give you something to share with your friends, so they can see […]