Thursday 6 June 2013

UK solar charity wins Google award

A charity which promotes solar powered lights in Africa has won a £500,000 grant from Google to spread its lights to 144,000 rural Tanzanian families.

SolarAid won one of four Google Global Impact Awards awarded to British non-profits which are using technology to tackle the world's toughest problems.

The non-profit group's solar lamps can be bought by schoolchildren through their schools to use when doing their homework (pictured, outside a school in Kenya).

Steve Andrews, SolarAid’s chief executive said: “Giving people access to simple solar technology impacts poverty and changes lives forever. The Global Impact Award will not only help us get 144,000 solar lights into Tanzania but create a sustainable model for solar distribution, market and job creation we can replicate across the continent. The impact of the technology and the effect of the award will be astounding.”

Last year ELN reported on maverick cyclist Sean Conway’s ‘round the world’ bike ride to raise thousands of pounds for the charity.