Nominations are now open for Global LEAP Outstanding Off-Grid Product Awards. The Awards program will recognize the highest quality, most efficient and affordable products designed for use by off-grid households and businesses. For lighting, the competition covers six categories of affordable, super-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lighting appliances.
Manufacturers of eligible products can find more information and nominate their products at http://www.GlobalLEAPAwards.org.
More than a billion people around the world still lack access to the electricity grid. However, millions of off-grid energy systems are used by households and small businesses throughout Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Small systems typically run off a 12-volt battery (such as a car battery) that may either be charged by a small solar photovoltaic (PV) panel on the roof (i.e. solar home systems) or charged for a fee elsewhere in the town. These household systems are expected to become even more widely used in the next several years as the cost of solar PV panels falls, developing world incomes rise, and financing mechanisms expand.
As more of the world's poor gain access to small energy systems, the Global LEAP Awards seeks to recognize and promote innovative manufacturers of low-voltage DC appliances that are creating the high quality, energy-efficient products that best meet off-grid consumer needs.
Caroline McGregor, who leads the Global LEAP initiative anticipates that, “when off-grid households start seeing the benefits of super-efficient appliances, and see that they're affordable and reliable, then they'll spread the word to their friends and neighbors. That increased demand will attract industry and bring the economies of scale that drive down prices, making energy and its benefits more accessible to a wider segment of the population.”
Winning products will be recognized at an international Clean Energy Ministerial ceremony in 2014. Winners and finalists will also be featured in a widely distributed Outstanding Off-Grid Products procurement guide for bulk purchasers like national and international governments, wholesale distributors, and social enterprises.
The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) is an initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) focused on catalyzing markets to deliver increased access to modern energy services.