Overview
The Solar and LED Energy Access Program (SLED) aims to transform the global market for affordable, clean, and quality-assured off-grid energy devices by addressing fundamental barriers to market development. With an initial focus on replacing dirty, fossil fuel-based light sources such as kerosene lanterns with solar-powered, light-emitting diode (LED) lights, the program aims to facilitate access to improved lighting services for 10 million people within five years.
The program builds on a joint initiative led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank, known as Lighting Africa, which began activities in 2007 and provided the foundation for SLED. The program’s structure includes activities in five main areas: product quality assurance, finance across the supply chain, market intelligence, consumer education, and policy.
For more information, view the SLED fact sheet .
Goal
Facilitate access to improved lighting services for 10 million people over five years through commercial sales of 2.5 million quality-assured, off-grid lighting products.
Progress
- Sales: Cumulative sales of quality-assured, off-grid lighting products have exceeded 500,000 units, benefitting an estimated 2.5 million people. Sales of quality-assured products in Africa have been growing at an annual rate of almost 500 percent over the past year.
- Expansion of activities in Africa: Since the first Clean Energy Ministerial in July 2010, the IFC and World Bank carried out implementation-related activities in several African countries, including the original Lighting Africa pilot countries of Kenya and Ghana and these additional countries: Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania.
- Initiation of activities in Asia: In 2011, IFC began preparations to launch Lighting India and conducted initial market research to inform the development of future activities in other Asian countries.
- Quality assurance: The product quality assurance program has tested more than 50 products using a standardized set of test methods and is currently testing other products under these standards. To date, 14 products have met the program’s minimum quality standards and performance targets. Verified performance results for products that have met the minimum standards are available in the form of a standardized specification sheet, which will help distributors and institutional bulk purchase buyers make informed purchasing decisions. Work is under way to develop a quality seal for off-grid lighting products.
- Education: A consumer education campaign was launched in Kenya last year that focuses on communicating the benefits of quality-assured, off-grid lighting systems to end users. Over the course of 2012, similar campaigns will be launched in other African countries.