Member - sagarenergysolutions.re

Sagar Energy Solutions has developed a solar alternative to kerosene lanterns in the night-fishing industry, a solution co-developed with the fishermen at Lake Victoria that increases disposable income by 40%. Every night on Lake Victoria, 300,000 fishers depart in 75,000 boats to fish in the darkness for sardines. Their tool for bait is 600,000 pressurised kerosene lanterns that emit 480,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. Each fisher knows these lanterns will take 40% of their monthly income, risk injuring them in explosions, take three hours of their day just to prepare for fishing, and is very aware how their toxic nature will cause respiratory problems late into life. What is less known is the damage to the global environment; sardine fishing on Lake Victoria emits more CO2 annually than the entire nation of Burundi. Our solution is the Sabi lamp, a solar powered fishing lamp co-designed with our end users to replace the currently used pressurised kerosene lanterns. Understanding the need for economic incentives, we encourage clean and socially inclusive industrial practices, which is reflected by our business model: by utilising a lease-to-own model together with a financing partner that increases household incomes through clean technology, leading to a payback time less than a year. Utilising our solar alternative eliminates the need to purchase kerosene which challenges a critical issue in the industry, that of low incomes. Currently, 40% of our users profits are spent on kerosene, with the Sabi lamp these profits can be used towards meeting basic needs, healthcare, education for their children and access to energy. Our solar lamp also tackles pressing issues of health and safety in the sardine fishing industry. Unlike the kerosene predecessors, our solar alternative is not prone to exploding when overpressurised, that frequently leads to facial injuries, burns and deaths. Additionally, the current kerosene lanterns produce fumes that cause respiratory problems similar to ‘black lung’ seen in miners. The biggest issue our solar alternative challenges is that of CO2 emissions. By using kerosene, the Sardine industry on Lake Victoria produces more CO2 than the entire national output of Burundi, 480,000 tonnes annually. Worldwide we conservatively estimate 5,000,000 kerosene lamps being in use each night, equating to 4 million tonnes of CO2 annually.