Solutions Panorama

Solar Sisters: The
“Avon Lady” Model of
Solar Distribution
Featuring:
Solar Sister
Where:
Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania
Time Frame:
2010 – present
DESCRIPTION
By creating a woman-centered sales network that brings clean energy technology to rural Africa,
Solar Sister is working to eradicate energy poverty and economically empower women through a
direct-sales network to sell solar energy products. Each Solar Sister entrepreneur buys her lights
and cookstoves from Solar Sister, then sells and delivers them to her family, friends, and neighbors.
Management staff train and recruit Business Development Associates, locally-hired field staff and
Solar Sister’s direct link to entrepreneurs. In turn, each associate recruits, trains, and supports a
group of one to 25 self-employed women entrepreneurs.
IMPACT
The Solar Sister program has grown to over 2,000 female entrepreneurs since 2010, whose
efforts to promote clean energy are reaching 370,000 beneficiaries. Women’s engagement
with Solar Sister provides them with access to new productive capital and income generation
opportunities. Some of the female entrepreneurs reported that their engagement with Solar
Sister was their first opportunity to work and to have access to their own source of income and
savings. Among the entrepreneurs surveyed in Solar Sister’s quantitative 2015 Tanzania End of
Year Survey, 91 percent reported that their children used the light for studying.
Customers
reported
saving
1.6 hours
per week
in time
spent
on fuel
collection.
As a result of using clean cookstoves, customers reported saving 1.6 hours per week in time
spent on fuel collection, US$1.92 per week in reduced expenditure on wood, or US$2.41 per
week in reduced expenditure on charcoal. Customers reported saving 1.5 hours per week from
switching to solar lighting, 1.7 hours per week from switching to solar mobile charging, US$3.23
per week in reduced kerosene costs; or US$2.69 per week in reduced mobile charging costs.
LEARN MORE
Women Can Power Alternative Energy Solutions for Africa;
allafrica.com
“Solar Sister: Empowering Women Through Clean Energy Entrepreneurship,”
International Center for Research on Women
Source: Invest in Women to Tackle Climate Change and Conserve the Environment policy brief
89
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