Solar Village boosts productivity with clean, off-grid energy

Over a billion people worldwide lack access to the power grid, meaning they do not have direct access to electricity in their homes.

Instead, many off-grid households are forced to use expensive or polluting power sources. In Africa alone, 600 million people are reliant on kerosene lamps which are oil-consuming, inefficient and potentially toxic.

The Battery Stick from Solar Village is a solar-powered, rechargeable energy source with a built-in 10W solar panel, an LED lamp, and 6 USB phone charge connectors. It can power a range of useful appliances such as lamps, phones, fans and even a TV.

The Battery Stick can provide off-grid households with access to clean and reliable energy to greatly enhance their quality of life.

The Battery Stick is, moreover, uniquely useful for smallholder farmers, which often rely on simple, cumbersome handheld devices to ward off weed, pests and disease. These devices are usually operated manually, with the alternative being tools powered by expensive, single-use batteries.

To provide an affordable alternative, the Battery Stick is designed specifically to be compatible with pesticide sprayers from the Micron Group. This provides farmers with an improved method of keeping their crops safe, increasing both their yield and income.

In addition to making work easier for smallholder farmers, solar-powered pesticide sprayers also use less water and chemicals than their manually operated counterparts. The Battery Stick thus contributes to more environment-friendly farming practices, as well as being more efficient.

Solar Village has developed a pay-as-you-go model for the Battery Stick, which allow farmers and customers to acquire the battery stick even if they cannot meet the upfront cost.

Globally, the market for off-grid energy appliances is an estimated 434 million households, according to the Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018.

Currently, Solar Village’s main market is Zambia, where only 31 per cent of the population have access to the electricity grid – many making their living from smallholder farming. The company is also establishing a foothold in Cote d'Ivoire, in addition to running trials in Benin and Nigeria. In collaboration with NOREC, Solar Village is also testing projects in Mozambique.