PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Caprivi Solar Light Project, Elephant Energy’s first project, was started in August 2008.  Doug Vilsack, the organization’s founder, solicited donations to purchase 50 BoGo Solar Flashlights (www.bogolight.com) and carried them to Namibia, Africa. The 50 lights were distributed to a broad array of stakeholders, including nine registered conservancies, national park rangers, community campsites and NGO staff.  After testing the lights for eight months, partner organizations worked with Elephant Energy to purchase, deliver and distribute more lights in the region.  While additional lights will be donated through a partnership with SunNight Solar and other companies producing like products, many lights will be purchased with revenue generated by the conservancies from hunting and tourism.  A partnership between human and elephant will light Caprivi.

In 2009, Elephant Energy's Solar Light Project distributed and marketed solar-powered lights to nearly 1000 households in two conservancies in Caprivi.  Sobbe Conservancy purchased lights at a subsidized price and distributed them to members, and Wuparo Conservancy facilitated a direct sale of lights to its members at a cost of $7.00, or what a family would normally spend on candles each month.  Local light monitors recorded baseline energy-use information and measured the utility of the lights in each household.  Follow up surveys and focus groups confirmed the impact that these lights have on people’s lives.  People avoided wild animals in the night; children studied into the evening; women felt more secure when traveling; and $7.00 was saved each month because candles were no longer necessary.