When you think of helping people in the under-developed areas of the world the things that normally spring to mind are medical aid, food aid, and things that are very basic to human survival. But what about light? Yes… light! This is one of those basic needs that we take for granted in our western "civilised" world.

Stewart Craine and Harry Andrews are co-founders of a not-for-profit award-winning organisation called Barefoot Power, who's motto is a "good life starts with good light". The basic idea behind this exciting venture is to produce products that use solar and renewable energy to provide good lighting to the poor, products that save money, and also reduce and eventually eliminate the use of kerosene. Expensive and emitting poor light, kerosene causes accidents and significantly reduces indoor air quality, not to mention uses an estimated 1.7 million barrels of oil per day to produce and the huge amount of carbon emissions that also result!

So why is light such an important need?

We of course just take it for granted, but as victims of the floods and tropical cyclones in Queensland recently discovered, being without power, and especially without light really has a profound and terrifically debilitating effect on life. So, just imagine if that was the norm – with no electricity and so no television, without good light there is no reading or studying after dark; in fact all tasks after sunset become much more difficult and the risk of fire is increased with the use of candles or lanterns.

In villages and towns in developing countries, practically all the available daylight is used to scrape together a living, and for the children – if they're lucky – the daylight hours are used to intersperse their daily chores with some schooling. Come the evening, which in the equatorial regions of Asia, Pacific and Africa where many of these people live, darkness usually falls between 6pm and 7pm, and then there is practically no light to either continue with work, study, or leisure. The kerosene lamp is for many people their only source of light.

Modern white led lighting

Barefoot Power, is one of a number of organisations that have recognised the fact that modern white led lighting, with rechargeable batteries to store the renewable energy provided by a solar panel could go a long way to solving this problem. The LED lights used in Barefoot Power lamps have been designed specifically for the conditions in these countries and have distinct advantages over kerosene.

The light emitted is around five times brighter than that of a kerosene lamp, the fuel is practically free, courtesy of the sun via a solar panel, and there are no adverse effects from running the lamps such as burns, house fires, dirty air or carbon emissions. The challenge, well actually one of many challenges, for Stewart and his company is to be able to build and sell the solar-powered lights for a price that the poor can afford.

So far they have been able to achieve this goal, and the normal payback is between 3 and 6 months for most people. In other words, the savings in the cost of kerosene pays for the unit in 3 to 6 months. The products are designed in Australia and mass-produced in China. To distribute its products, Barefoot Power assists local micro entrepreneurs with business plan development and financing on all levels of the supply chain. The company has helped to attract financing for importation partners from international fund providers and has also facilitated financing for these small-scale entrepreneurs from micro finance institutions.

Green Times recently interviewed Stewart Craine, and he gave us a bit of background on himself and his co-founder Harry Andrews:

"Barefoot Power was established in 2005 to manufacture and distribute pro-poor lighting products by my fellow founder Harry Andrews and myself.

"My background is in civil and electrical engineering and I worked as a renewable energy specialist consultant for more than six years. I spent three years designing and constructing micro-hydro power stations in Nepal, and worked extensively in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and China. Academically, I have a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Mathematics and a Masters in Electrical Engineering, with much of the research for these studies completed with forming Barefoot Power in mind.

"Harry is the regional manager for Barefoot Power's African operations. He has a background of six years in renewable energy policy, project management and environmental assessment. Harry has worked extensively in Papua New Guinea, East Africa and Fiji. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Environmental Studies), postgraduate qualifications in Environmental Impact Assessment and is currently completing his Masters in Development Studies."

Stewart went on to say:

"There are many socio-economic benefits to providing sustainable lighting to people in developing communities and Barefoot Power's products touch on health and safety, education and literacy, affordability, income generation for local small-scale entrepreneurs and the environment through emission reduction."

Helping close to one million people

So far, since the foundation of the company in 2005, the company has reached close to one million people, and provided their expansion plans stay on track, they hope to grow that figure to reach close to five million by 2012. The main challenge to their expansion at the moment according to Stewart is raising capital. While investors in the company have over 10% returns to date, which should give comfort to new investors, the need for capital remains a problem for this not-for-profit company that is growing so fast.

Looking at the quality of their partners such as the European Investment Bank, The European Union, the Australian Government and many others that have provided and continue to provide support to the company's efforts, should also provide assurance to would be investors as to the legitimacy and sustainability of the organisation.

So, as Stewart says, if there are any Green Times readers who would like to support the venture, please contact the company (let them know you saw this article on Green Times) to help them continue to provide affordable solar-powered lighting systems and to reduce poverty in developing countries. But if an investment is not something that can be managed, then at least spreading the word about the importance of eliminating kerosene would be good.

For more information about solar-powered lighting projects around the world:

• www.barefootpower.com
• Lighting Africa – a World Bank site
• The Lumina Project
• Portable Light Project

Also take a look at this video from ABC New Inventors TV program.

Written by Gavan Farley

Interview by Marion Di Benedetto

Image credit: Tom Maruko via Flickr Creative Commons