Washington, D.C., USA – Zamsolar Ltd., a Zambia-based social enterprise, intends to partner with manufacturers of winners and finalist products in the Global LEAP Awards to better serve Zambians with little or no access to the electric grid. The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition that will evaluate low-voltage direct current (DC) off-grid appliances for their quality and energy efficiency, starting with two initial product categories: LED lights and televisions.
“Our customers deserve the best available products and service, and Zamsolar’s dedicated to giving them the best,” said Thomas Smyth, Zamsolar’s Managing Director. “The Global LEAP Awards will help us do it.”
The Global LEAP Awards, an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial, supports self-sustaining commercial markets for clean energy access products and services. The goal of the Awards is to identify the world’s highest quality, most energy-efficient low-voltage DC LED room-lighting appliances and flat-panel color televisions. Zamsolar plans to speak with manufacturers of the top-ranked products in the Global LEAP Awards about Zamsolar’s interest in selling and marketing the products.
Zamsolar is a social enterprise and its mission is to provide affordable and sustainable solutions to Zambians living in energy poverty. The company is pioneering a village-based retail distribution model, empowering a network of thousands of Zambian sales agents to deliver solar products and other cost-saving and income-generating products to the millions of Zambians living in hard-to-reach rural areas.
“Zamsolar’s business model and the energy access products they sell can help a lot of off-grid, rural Zambians,” said the U.S. Department of Energy’s Caroline McGregor, who leads the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) initiative. “We’re pleased that the Global LEAP Awards will bolster such an exciting young company’s ability to identify and sell the best off-grid appliances to their customers.”
“We’re particularly excited about the Global LEAP Awards’ television program,” said Smyth. “In our experience, our customers want TVs as much or more than they want light. It’s hard to find good off-grid TVs, and so the Global LEAP Awards is going to be a big help to our business.”
Manufacturers of eligible products can find more information and nominate their products at www.GlobalLEAPawards.org.
About Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)
The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum to share best practices and promote policies and programs that encourage and facilitate the transition to a global clean energy economy. CEM initiatives are based on areas of common interest among participating governments and other stakeholders and help reduce emissions, improve energy security, provide energy access, and sustain economic growth. The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) is an initiative of the CEM. www.cleanenergyministerial.org/GlobalLEAP
About Zamsolar Ltd
Zamsolar Ltd is a social enterprise operating in Zambia mandated to provide affordable and sustainable solutions to energy poverty to populations at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Zamsolar works to empower a network of thousands of sales agents in rural villages to deliver solar products and other cost-saving and income-generating products to the 10 million Zambians who live in rural areas. Solar-powered lights could save these 1.6 million off-grid households an average of $5 per month spent on candles, batteries, and kerosene—a total annual savings of $96,000,000 for Zambia’s rural poor. www.Zamsolar.com
Contacts
Thomas Smyth
Zamsolar Ltd
smyth@zamsolar.com
Matt Jordan
Global LEAP Awards
mjordan@clasponline.org
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