Promoting the use of solar energy throughout the developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America has been the objective of many international organizations. Appropriate applications for solar energy include lighting, water pumping, food drying, solar cooking and disinfected drinking water production. However, as is the case with solar energy in general, the adoption by families and institutions in developing countries has been too slow. Initial cost, ease of use, reliability and long-term durability have been significant factors which dissuade widespread implementation.

 

  Transferring solar technologies to African families, which meet their most immediate needs, is the goal of Developing World Solar (DWS). High performance, long lasting solar systems, designed for local conditions are supplied through in-country partners.

Together DWS and local partners initiate local awareness of the solar concepts, then make available specific solar equipment along with training in assembly, use and maintenance of these various solar systems.

 

  The range of solar devices that are promoted by DWS, include advanced hybrid solar cookers, long lasting solar lights and solar thermal water decontamination units. By providing these solar technologies at affordable, subsidized prices, DWS has succeeded in affecting the lives of thousands of West Africans. Families in the region are otherwise faced with an encroaching desert environment, which thrusts them into destitute lives. The few things which matter most to the survival of these families, food, safe water, and lighting, can be advanced dramatically by the availability of solar solutions promoted by DWS.

 

Expanding the reach of DWS activities will multiply the following positive outcomes :

* decrease deforestation

* reduction of illnesses and respiratory ailments

* improvement of family finances

* lessening of overall misery

 

  Deforestation is a destructive activity, which expands the Sahara desert throughout the West Africa region. Government and international organizations attempt to counter this harmful process. DWS offers reliable solar technologies, which satisfy the energy needs of families, freeing them from the necessity of finding wood, transporting it great distances and burning up the remaining local vegetation.

 

  Reduce Respiratory and Gastro-Intestinal Ailments. West African families ordinarily rely upon wood for cooking, kerosene for lighting and any water source available locally, often contaminated. DWS can supply hybrid solar cookers, which eliminate smoke and fire from the home, along with clean and reliable solar lighting to replace the toxic fumes of kerosene lamps. Solar pasteurizers insure that safe drinking water is used, adding to the health improvements achieved.

 

  Family Finances. West African families dedicate a large portion of their time and meager incomes to the procurement of fuel for cooking and lighting, as well as safe water supplies. An average family in Ouagadougou will spend over $300. USD per year just on wood, which they buy in the marketplace. (It is illegal for residents to cut local trees)Kerosene is an additional financial burden for lighting their homes. Buying bottled water is usually prohibitively expensive, available only to the rich minority residents. Solar technologies made available from DWS nearly eliminate these ongoing expenses, resulting in improvement in a families finances.

 

  Human Misery. Living in a desert is a challenging experience for any human family. Scavenging for fuel and building open fires in desert heat inflicts additional misery on local women and children. DWS solar devices shield users from the heat and smoke and the inconvenience of their conventional energy scenarios.

 

  Developing World Solar, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1999 by John Grandinetti, and his wife, Jody Yeh-Grandinetti. Prior to this date, 25 years were spent by Mr. Grandinetti promoting solar alternatives in Hawaii, through his company Grand Solar, Inc. Substantial knowledge and experience was accrued and he eventually applied this to the development of advanced solar designs, specifically focused on the needs of the poor in developing regions of the world. After conceiving novel designs for advanced hybrid solar cookers and efficient solar water pasteurizers, he built, tested and ultimately brought to manufacture the several solar appliances. BlazingTube Hybrid Solar Cooker - Sol*Saver Water Pasteurizer.

 

  After establishing local partners in West Africa, a price structure was established, which allowed families and others to purchase DWS products at an affordable pricing. The basic arrangement allowed DWS to donate product to local partners, who then sold directly to families and institutions (such as UNHCR). The low pricing enabled interested parties to make economically sensible purchases of DWS products. The monies generated allowed the local partners to cover a variety of costs, along with a profit, and insured that any ongoing service or maintenance was happily supplied to all purchasers. Since word of mouth is the main marketing method in West Africa, DWS’s local partners guaranteed satisfaction to those who purchased any products.

 

  The result presently is a surging demand for DWS products throughout the region. Multiple orders have been received from the UNHCR, which place DWS products in refugee camps. Requests have been received from Senegal, Niger and Ghana. Product has been shipped to South Africa, Rwanda and Namibia.