The benefits of solar energy tend to come in the medium and long term: it saves money on fuel bills, reduces our dependence on fossil fuels, reduces our carbon footprint and reduces the impact of climate change. These are all very valuable reasons to adopt solar technology. However, in the right circumstances, solar energy can have a much more immediate impact on people’s lives.

Much of the Third World has a lot of sun but little or no access to affordable electricity. The common alternative, kerosene lamps, is expensive, dangerous, and not as effective. Here are some amazing examples where various charities using solar technology change lives – right now!

1 COCO and the solar lamp project

Comrades for children abroad, COCO has a project in Tanzania to provide solar lamps to young people. In this region, the electricity supply is not reliable; some power outages can last up to 7 days. Also, many people cannot afford electricity. The night light is generally provided by kerosene lamps with the disadvantages of cost, fire hazard, health problems, and environmental damage. Students receive microcredits. They pay around £ 1 a week to share and use a kerosene lamp. Your rebates for a solar lamp are around £ 1.25 per week. After 25 weeks, they have repaid their loan. From then on, your lighting needs are met free of charge.

2 Solar Aid and SunnyMoney Enterprises

Solar Aid, and its subsidiary SunnyMoney, have a social goal of increasing access to solar lights and reducing dependence on kerosene lamps. Your solar lights provide reliable energy that saves money, improves health, and improves educational opportunities by providing light for study without having to worry about the cost and dangers of using kerosene lamps. Their lamps also feature a mobile phone charger, a possible source of additional income.

3 d. Light design

d.light manufactures and distributes four sunlight products aimed at the 2.6 billion people around the world who do not have access to reliable electricity. Its lights offer maintenance-free reliability and short payback periods as energy costs are reduced by up to 50%. Also, having access to light at night can help increase productivity and therefore family income. Together with Christian Aid, they reached 4,400 households in three states of India. A similar project has recently been started in Africa.

4 Practical action

Using simple technology, Practical Action works with some of the world’s poorest people to find practical, tangible and innovative solutions to poverty. As an example of this, Turkana people in northern Kenya have to walk up to 10 km in the relentless sun and heat to find water. Practical Action provides a brilliant solution to this problem: solar powered pumps that can provide enough water even in dry conditions. These pumps are so efficient that they can supply up to 10,000 liters per hour from a 100 meter deep well.

5 IKEA Foundation

Millions of refugees are using large canvas tents that cost around $ 500 each and are designed to be used for 6 months, but are often used for years. One downside to these tents is that they can get too hot during the day and too cold at night. The IKEA Foundation has devised a cost-effective alternative to the canvas tent, a prototype flat-pack refugee shelter. It is modular, lightweight, relatively easy to transport, and can be assembled without tools. Its roof is covered with a reflective sheet that keeps it cooler during the day and warmer at night. It comes with its own solar panel that is used to power a light and a USB port. These shelters are guaranteed for 3 years, but they will likely last much longer than that. Although they are currently more expensive than canvas tent, their durability, over time, would make them much more profitable.

6 The Maendeleo Foundation

Education in the 21st century relies heavily on information technology (IT) accessed primarily through laptops. In the Third World, most students, who already face all kinds of barriers, such as fees, uniforms and travel, have the additional disadvantage of having little or no source of electrical power. In Uganda, the Maendeleo Foundation is using solar energy to close this technology gap. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is off the grid, but there is no shortage of equatorial sun. The base has two robust jeeps. Each aims to visit five schools a week and reach, on average, 200 students per day. When a jeep arrives at a school, it provides an instant pop-up outdoor classroom. There is a tent, chairs, desks, and enough laptops for a class. Charging the solar panels allows students to have a multi-hour computer lesson.

All these projects deserve to be supported. It can play its part, big or small, in eradicating poverty for the world’s most vulnerable people. Visit the project websites to find more details on how you can get involved. Make a real difference.