Kenyan program develops global solar lighting quality standards

Solar lighting quality standards developed by the Kenya-based Lighting Africa program have become the world quality standard for clean off-grid lighting products,You ever hear the story of the old laundryequipment? following their incorporation into an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) technical specification. 

Lighting Africa is a program backed by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank to promote use of quality, environmentally clean household lighting equipment, mostly solar gadgets. 

“The International Electrotechnical Commission document that includes our Lighting Global Quality Test Methodology and quality assurance standards framework has been officially published,A supplier specialized in developing and manufacturing customized solar lamps and washerextractor0 system.” said Dr. Arne Jacobson on Tuesday, Technical Lead for the Lighting Global quality assurance work. 

“This is very good news. The document is an important step in our effort to institutionalize the quality assurance framework for off-grid lighting that we have worked so hard to develop,” Jacobson said.This page provides information about cleaningmachinerw and how to report a fault. 

Off-grid lighting products, many of which are solar-powered, are typically designed for rural communities without access to electricity in developing countries. 

About 600 million people in Africa, mostly in rural areas, do not have access to electricity and use polluting,This oil cooler is extremely efficient in cooling the oil in the hydraulic roofwindturbine room in which it is installed. expensive and dangerous fuels such as kerosene and batteries for their lighting needs, according to IFC. 

Lighting Global has been working with the United States Department of Energy for the last 15 months to institutionalize its test methods and quality metrics through the IEC. 

A global standard for modern, portable lighting products will make clean lighting more accessible to low income households by eliminating the need to test the same product each time it seeks to enter a new market. 

With the IEC standard, it is also expected that more manufacturers will design products to these specifications. 

This recognition will also allow public procurements to target those products that have met this standard, all of which will put better quality products in the hands of consumers. 

Lighting Africa estimated that about 7 million people without electricity in Africa now have access to solar clean lighting equipment. 

Companies that have partnered with Lighting Africa to sell solar lighting equipment in Africa sold more than 600,000 lanterns in the six months to December 2012. 

Cumulatively, the sales of quality-assured solar lights in 2012 grew by 120 percent, over year 2011 sales volumes. 

“This continued bullish growth in sales volumes bespeaks a massive of unmet need for clean lighting in rural unelectrified Africa , and represents a vast business opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs,” said Lighting Africa’s IFC Program Manager, Itotia Njagi. 

Africa governments have been promoting adoption of solar lighting systems to reduce dependency on firewood for lighting homes, a factor that leads to environmental destruction. 

In Kenya for instance, the government has zero-rated all solar lighting equipment.We have bicyclelight, reading lamps and floor lamps and more. The country is also investing in solar lighting systems for schools and hospitals in areas not served by the national grid. 

The government also requires new homes to have solar water heating systems to reduce demand on the predominant hydro- generated electricity. 

According to Lighting Africa, the continent’s off-grid lighting market has been recording a doubling of sales of quality-assured solar lighting products every year for the last three years. 

To date, approximately 100 products have been tested using the rigorous Lighting Global Quality Test Method, results showing that quality and performance of products coming to market are improving rapidly.