News and views

This Annual Report covers the financial year of 2020 as well as impact numbers and future plans.  

“We need to look for lamps for our house, because when we use candles, it becomes dangerous with children. You are not supposed to leave children with active fires (…) A lot of children get burnt, this is a problem, and someone can die.” In a small house in Chasefu village in rural Zambia, Richard […]

  How can I do my bit to help combat climate change? Many people seem to be asking this question right now. What can I do to make a difference? Perhaps you are watching the news coverage coming out of COP26 or listening to radio talk shows discussing how we can reduce our use of […]

Almost 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity and for the first time in eight years, the number of families left in the dark as the sun sets in rural Africa is increasing. The desperation for light in the pitch black forces millions to burn open flames in their homes, causing […]

  Just under half (48%)* of Brits believe solar energy is the most cost-effective form of powering light as, Over a third (37%) look to buy more solar powered products Yet, despite householders taking sustainable steps with their own energy supply, almost all Brits (82%) are unaware that 771 million people worldwide live without electricity […]

As you are reading this, one more family’s life is brighter. Our team in Malawi is busy right now installing solar home systems in 500 houses, a whole village in Malawi, under our project ‘Light a Village’.   Since the announcement of the project, our team has been preparing for this day. Research has gone […]

  “It was not easy before, we used to use phones to screen patients in the out-patient department, now all the rooms are well lit making it easy,” Keith Samanata, Community Health Assistant of Miputu Health Post, Masaiti District.   One year later, we visited these clinics to see how the solar systems were working and […]

  “The developing world is full of entrepreneurs and visionaries, who with access to education, equity and credit would play a key role in developing the economic situations in their countries.”  This was said by Muhammad Yunus, the leading pioneer for modern microfinance. His work through the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has shown […]

PRESS RELEASE Statkraft intends to support SolarAid with donations totalling £2m over three years. 548 million people are living without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, impacting their ability to learn, work and feel safe after dark. For the first time since 2013 the number of people who do not have access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa […]

  In 2015 the world committed to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) by 2030. Six years on, progress on SDG7 in Africa, which aims to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, is going in the wrong direction. For the first time since 2013, the number of people who have […]