Internationally connected

On the sunny side with €25,000

On 19 December, 2016, KOSTAL Solar Electric celebrated its 10th anniversary as the youngest member of the KOSTAL family. As a responsible and traditional family business, we felt motivated to share this success with other people. For this reason, a fundraising campaign was launched: €10 per PIKO inverter order ended up reaching a total of €25,000. This was used to electrify the KOSTAL villages of Kasozi and Isukwe in Uganda with solar power. 

 

As KOSTAL's long-term future programmes aim to create a smart connection between economic, ecological and social factors, we're pleased to bring light for education and development to the poorest regions of the world. For this reason, we would like to thank our partners and customers who have contributed to this substantial amount and to our commitment towards a better life.

A smart connection crosses national borders

The KOSTAL philosophy is manifested in our claim "Smart connections.", which is not only vitally important in our internal work, but is also apparent in our work outside of the company through partnerships and future programmes. We're therefore pleased to be able to live up to our brand claim of offering people a better livelihood and bringing smart connections into the world, regardless of national borders.

We're springing into action in Uganda, which is located in East Africa and borders on South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and the Congo. The state has about 37 million inhabitants, about two million of whom live in the capital Kampala. In 2014, Uganda was ranked 165th out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), and was therefore listed in the category "countries with a low level of development".

In order to counteract the situation there, the Solar Energy Foundation's sixth solar village – and the first solar village in Uganda – was to be built in 2016. In general, the solar village project has three main objectives:

1. Families receive a basic supply of electricity, so that everyday activities can continue even after sunset.
   
   
2. Children benefit from better teaching and learning opportunities because light is available in the classrooms and even at home.
   
   
3. The new opportunities and healthier living conditions mean that better health care is available to all as lung and respiratory diseases caused by frequent use of kerosene lamps can be minimised.

Kasozi is a small village in the Luwero district, a region at the heart of the country that consists of 164 households, a health station, two Anglican and one Catholic church, a mosque, two schools, a police station and a small shop. The amount of money donated by KOSTAL will allow PV systems to be installed. The advantages provided by this will contribute to the development and common good of the population.

To commit towards improving living standards, the first step in building a solar village is to inform all households in detail about the opportunities offered by solar power. Local solar companies act as partners, providing selected families with a solar system for lighting and mobile phone charging, so that they and all other residents can be persuaded by how bright it is and how it functions. After using and inspecting the system extensively for a week, families have the opportunity to register for a system with local partners.

The exercise to raise awareness worked very well and, in time, all families decided to take advantage of the new technical opportunities brought by solar power. In this way, KOSTAL has been able to help many hundreds of families, strengthen confidence in solar technology and create jobs at local solar trade companies. In addition, the health station, which is the basis for basic medical care, was equipped with solar power and all age groups can benefit from better opportunities for teaching and learning and day-to-day routines. What's particularly great is that it sparked significant interest in the systems in the neighbouring villages and that these neighbouring communities could be electrified using the rest of the donation money. This enabled the "KOSTAL Solar Village Kasozi" project to be extended to the "Solar Region Luwero" project, which is around the same size as Saarland, Germany.

Isukwe, another KOSTAL solar village, is located north of Jinja in eastern Uganda. The inhabitants of this village are mainly farmers and until recently accessing electricity was difficult or almost impossible. We were able to electrify this village too because some of the donation money was left over, and also because the solar systems attracted increased attention and interest: news of the system's benefits and the new-found standard of living spread rapidly, and more and more people didn't want to miss out on this technological advancement. The village leader's response was particularly remarkable. He wanted nothing more than a reliable power supply to help further develop his village. Therefore, we at KOSTAL are very proud to have turned this vision into a reality by creating a solar village and to have helped all generations to help themselves.

Kerosene lamps, which are harmful to health, could be thrown away. This was a particularly joyous moment because it means that people can now use mosquito nets distributed by government support programmes. Just a few months ago, they weren't being used because the kerosene lamps and candles presented too great a fire risk. However, thanks to the solar power supply, which provides smoke-free and bright light in the evening, the inhabitants can now effectively protect themselves against malaria.

For this reason, we're not the only ones who are very proud to have made a difference and to have given several villages the opportunity to make progress and to make everyday life much easier. Our partners and customers who purchased the PIKO inverter can also delight in how our fundraising campaign in Uganda "is bearing fruit". Furthermore, we will all be able to look back in years to come on how we facilitated better healthcare provision and fostered positive teaching and learning opportunities.

KOSTAL Solar Electric's birthday on 19 December 2016 was used to hand over the considerable sum of €25,000 raised from our fundraising campaign to the Solar Energy Foundation from Merzhausen, near Freiburg. Dr. Harald Schützeichel, Director of the Solar Energy Foundation, draws a positive conclusion from the anniversary campaign: "This money will enable us to achieve so much more through our solar projects in East Africa than we originally thought possible and to really transform people's lives there for the better“.

Another fitting quote is from Jim Rohn, a US-American entrepreneur, author and motivational trainer:

'Success is not having a Ferrari or a million dollars. Success is living your life as you want to live it“.

This makes it clear that success and wealth depend on more than just material things and that it's definitely more important to live a fulfilling, happy and healthy life.

At this point, we would also like to thank you, our partners and customers, very much because, by placing your order, you've contributed to this enormous amount. A seemingly small investment in basic electrical equipment can make a bigger difference than you may think. Therefore, we can share the success of improving the living conditions in the poorest countries of the world through the use of solar power.

The Solar Energy Foundation's work

Since 2004, the Solar Energy Foundation has been involved in fighting against energy-related poverty by providing solar power for rural development and poverty alleviation in rural regions of developing countries, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines and, since 2015, in Cambodia and Uganda.

The population's social and economic situation can be significantly improved by using solar technology in private households and public institutions. Lower energy costs, higher education and training opportunities and better health conditions are just a few of the many benefits.

This is by no means a one-time aid program: the foundation's claim to "help people to help themselves" is essential here as it guarantees sustainable and progressive development. That's why we're delighted to be able to support this outstanding work.

If we've got your attention and you would like to find out more about the Solar Energy Foundation's charitable work, you will find the link to the website here:

Solar Energy Foundation

Success has two letters: DO! (Goethe)

Finally, we would like to explicitly thank you once again because together we've been able to make the world a bit better, provide new opportunities and further improve the quality of life. Gandhi once said: "Be the change you want to see in the world“. Therefore, distributing our smart connections on a technical and international level while also standing up for a good cause is a real achievement. Over the course of the project, which was successfully completed over several months, 500 people in total were supplied with electricity. They now have access to solar power for light and to charge their mobile phones.