Sol Solidari's aim is to help to spread appropriate technologies for cooking (solar cookers, ovens, fuel efficient stoves, etc.) and lighting (solar energy).
Using public and private donations from the developed countries, we intend to assist projects with technical, logistic and financial support, working hand in hand with local counterparts and local companies.
Contact Information
Our Focus
From the beginning of the association, in 2008, we have carried out projects in four countries: Ethiopia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. All are projects of introduction of new technologies in rural communities with problems of health, poverty and deforestation. We try to build the cookers in the same country and we offer them through a local NGO. We also provide training on the use of the new cookers. In a second phase, we try to establish a market for the cookers, subsidizing a part of the cost of each unit. The monitoring is done by our counterpart. In Burkina, we support with micro-credit the installation of solar kits to provide light to rural families.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
We don't develop technical products, but we look for the best and preferably locally produced products to introduce them at rural communities, and look for funds to make it possible. One big task is to introduce a tool that fulfills the people's expectations and to adapt the new technology to their cooking behaviour. And that must be done always in collaboration with a counterpart, mainly a small NGO based in the village or county.
Our short experience shows us that market development needs big subsidies, at least during the first years, as most of the improved cookers are much more expensive than what African people can pay. Our difficulty is to find these funds, and we would like to work with carbon markets and corporate social responsibility to find these funds.
We are not developers of new technologies, but we are obviously very interested in standardization.
We have no experience in monitoring indoor air pollution, but we have health workers on our staff and we will be ready to help in health monitoring.
Relevant Publications or Studies
None noted
Our Contribution to the Partnership
Sol Solidari is ready to contribute publicizing our short experience on improved cookers introduction. We will be happy to assist PCIA Partners to achieve their goals.