FAQ / justifications
Frequently Asked Questions
Including supporting information and justifications
Solapodz markets
The solar light market in lower income countries.
“598 million people in Africa alone have no access to electricity. Without electricity families have no clean source of light, leaving millions to rely on expensive and dangerous alternatives such as home-made kerosene lamps.
These lamps are a poor source of light; they emit toxic black smoke, eat up to 15% of a family’s income and are extremely hazardous.
The solution:
With a solar light, everything changes. These little lamps are safe, clean and affordable. They give off hours of light in the evening so families can earn, learn and feel safe after dark. Just one lamp can transform the fortunes of an entire family and is the first step on an energy ladder to full electrification.” (solaraid.org).
The solar power bank market
Over recent years the rise of the mobile phone has meant there is now a second market for a solar powered phone charger/power bank, the amount of product supplying this sector is relatively low (<1% ) but rising.
Despite most ‘developed’ countries having access to stable grid electricity there is now a growing market for eco-friendly/ ‘reduced plastic’ products that are standalone, ‘off-grid’ and not just another ‘throw-away’ purchase.
At present this market is fulfilled mainly by cheap plastic moulded product manufactured in China. They cannot be maintained so are another throwaway item with a lifetime from 1-7 years.
The amount of product supplying this sector continues to rise and is possibly reaching up to 5% of the potential market (20-30 million).
a) there is a market for a portable solar phone charger (that doesn’t require a mains connection) and specifically for an ‘eco-friendly’ product with a longer lifetime, made from recycled and repurposed materials, that can be maintained.
b) The cost of this product is not so critical since there are no existing ‘eco-friendly’ products in this market space.
c) There is also a small market for portable ‘mood’/’candle’ lighting, again that don’t involve a mains connection and are ‘eco-friendly’.
d) There are cheap ‘throw-away’ battery powered ‘candlelight’ substitutes but there is a market for an ‘eco-friendly’ alternative.
598 million people in Africa alone have no access to electricity
Solapodz materials and processes
The underlying assumption is that detailed moulded plastic will be replaced with wood, metal sheet and fixings.
The wood will need to be cut and routed, the metal sheet will need to be cut, drilled and bent, all relatively straightforward processes and not requiring high cost tooling.
There will be however extra labour costs involved in the processing and finishing, so the Solapodz selling price can be set to accommodate the local markets.
The beauty of the Solapodz design is that it can be flexible to accommodate varying sizes of available wood, prototypes have used wood from recycled pallets.
Processes like cutting, drilling, bending and routing are required, but no tooling machines are needed.
The ‘18650’ Lithium Ion cells can be sourced from discarded or recycled laptop batteries (each laptop may contain between 4 and 8 individual cells) – technical knowledge is required to assess and test the individual cells, but for each laptop battery it would be possible to salvage between 50 and 80% of the cells, that still have some useable life left in them.
Here it is important to be able to access the batteries in the Solapodz product so they can be easily replaced at a later date.
There has never been a better time to be part of the solar revolution
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