Solar generators are an efficient way to provide electricity for homes, offices and businesses. But their capabilities don’t end there – they can also be utilized for many other purposes.
For instance, in Liberia a group of women known as the “Solar Mamas” is providing electricity to rural villages by teaching rural women how to build and maintain solar systems.
Solar Panels
Solar power is a sustainable and dependable source of energy that can bring life to rural areas. Electricity provides essential services like schools, agriculture, health care and other necessities that would otherwise not be accessible.
Many large solar projects in rural India employ men and women for operational and maintenance work, creating temporary employment opportunities as well as skill development opportunities and new income sources in the community.
Sustainable Energy for All requires scaling up clean tech solutions that offer local green jobs and workforce development. To do this, it’s important to build strong partnerships with the clean tech sector and support women as they strive to be at the forefront of innovation and growth in this space.
Solar Sister, for instance, empowers women through local green jobs and workforce development across its operations in Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa and Nigeria in West Africa. Its female entrepreneurs sell and demonstrate solar home systems, cooking solutions and other clean technologies to their communities. These women can share their personal testimony as they describe how the energy they purchase allows them to work longer hours, study more and enjoy better health for themselves and their families.
Solar Generators need Batteries
Women play a particularly significant role in energy access, as they are typically the primary caregivers for their homes and more vulnerable to energy poverty than men. Clean and reliable energy access could be an important step towards empowering women in rural areas by giving them the resources to improve their health, education, security, livelihoods, and overall well-being.
Batteries are an integral component of solar generator kits and a significant cost factor. Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular choice, though lead acid batteries may also be utilized in off-grid solar systems.
In some villages where the project was specifically targeted towards women, local NGOs trained them as solar engineers to install and maintain the system. Now their communities can benefit from affordable, renewable electricity that replaces expensive and polluting kerosene lanterns that had been their only source of lighting for decades.
Solar Generators Provide Clean Energy Sources
One of the best ways to empower women in rural areas is by connecting them to clean energy sources. This can eliminate exposure to hazardous household air pollution, enable efficient cookstoves and fans, reduce indoor smoke from wood stoves, replace traditional lighting with green electricity – increasing security, increasing mobility and providing access to community resources like water.
Furthermore, increasing access to electricity can spur the development of clean-energy business models that promote women’s advancement through integration and employment throughout the entire energy supply chain. This would improve women’s living conditions and lay a strong foundation for gender inclusive energy programs that have maximum impact in rural communities as well as emerging nations alike.
Huda Othman Hassan is one of nine women who set up a solar microgrid with United Nations assistance in Abs, Yemen near Saudi Arabia’s border. According to Hassan, this initiative provides cheaper, cleaner renewable energy as well as new opportunities for earning income and developing professional skills.
Power Options with Solar Powered Generators
Solar-powered devices offer many advantages to families, such as reducing their carbon footprint from electricity usage and cutting down on air pollution. Furthermore, they make life easier for women in rural areas by allowing them to focus more time doing what they do best: taking care of their families. The best solar generators typically feature multiple outputs such as USB-A and USB-C ports that can charge tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices; plus they include AC outlets which are powerful enough to supply full charges to laptops or other desktops.
Though the industry focuses on technology, it’s also essential to look at the bigger picture. Women are often overlooked in our quest to provide electricity to everyone. To attract them onboard, organizations must not only offer an affordable and dependable clean energy solution but also educate and inform them about its advantages so that they become informed consumers and advocates for clean power.