Australian charity Pollinate Group continues to make significant progress in delivering micro-solar energy solutions to impoverished communities beyond our shores; with the help of SolarQuotes.
In rural Nepal, 30% of the country’s households still do not have access to electricity. Across the Indian border, most rural village houses and many urban slums are still without electricity or have no reliable access. The situation means that many families have to resort to kerosene lighting and diesel/petrol generators – expensive, polluting and dangerous.
Back in 2019SolarQuotes has partnered with the Australian company Pollination group; a charity that supports micro-entrepreneurs in India and Nepal to sell (among other things) affordable, good quality solar lighting systems to some of the poorest people on the planet. Besides clean energy, the female orientation of Pollinate – a more recent pivot – is a very important part of the band’s mission.
“Social norms in India and Nepal are such that it is difficult for women to find work, even for those who want to work… Women also generally have less power when it comes to taking decisions at home, are less educated and less likely to own land. .” said Pollinate.
For every genuine quote request submitted through SolarQuotes since July 2019, SQ founder Finn Peacock has donated $1 to Pollinate Group to support its efforts. Those one-time dollars have really done a lot of good – around $211,000 so far according to a letter received from Pollinate Group last week.
“With your support, we empower inspiring leaders like Laxmi, who lives with her family in Hyderabad. Laxmi funds her children’s education through increased income from the sale of solar lights and sees herself as a an ambassador for clean energy in her community,” says part of the letter.
“I’ve never felt like a leader before, and it’s the best feeling in the world” – Laxmi, solar micro-entrepreneur.
The major impact of Micro-Solar
Pollinate Group claims that the donations provided by SolarQuotes have:
- Empowerment of 423 women entrepreneurs.
- 10,143 solar lamps and other renewable energy products were distributed.
- 265,453 tonnes of CO2e avoided (estimated over the 5-year lifespan of the products).
- Positively impacted 56,803 people living in poverty by helping them access education and improve the health of their communities.
- Communities saved A$4.6 million in reduced fuel costs (estimated over the 5 year life of the products).
Commenting on SolarQuotes’ involvement, Finn says:
“We’ve kept this association fairly low-key, but the SolarQuotes team and I are all incredibly proud of this partnership – and every Aussie who has received a quote through my service shares in their success.”
When we talk about solar installations here on SolarQuotes, we’re usually talking about systems in the kilowatt, megawatt, or even gigawatt range.
“But as Pollinate’s fantastic efforts demonstrate, even a few watts can have a huge, lasting positive impact in people’s lives,” says Finn.
Pollinate Group always welcomes extra support – if you can spare a few dollars; consider a donation.