I am so proud to know & work with this amazing company based in Berkeley & Northern TZ:
Press Release
7 June 2012
7 June 2012
Solar Entrepreneur TanzSolar Wins Award for Championing
Environmental Change in Africa
Last night, on the island of Mauritius, the annual Green
Africa Award for Business was awarded to TanzSolar (www.tanzsolar.org) for championing
environmental change in Africa. TanzSolar received the Award for bringing
clean, renewable solar energy and electric lighting to villagers in Tanzania.
TanzSolar received the Green Business & Environmental Management Award, one
of ten categories.
“We are thrilled and this is an enormous honor to receive
such an award. It’s nice to be recognized for our hard work in solar energy in
Africa” said Marianne Walpert, Founder and Director of TanzSolar.
Since 2007 TanzSolar has been working in the rural, northern
regions of Tanzania to bring clean, renewable solar energy and electric
lighting to village homes, schools and medical facilities. TanzSolar is a nonprofit Tanzania based
company that has distributed over 7,000 subsidized solar-lighting systems. Nonetheless millions of rural households and
businesses remain without access to electricity, so this work is just
beginning.
In much the same way that cell phones have replaced the need
for telephone lines throughout much of the African continent, solar electricity
generation has the potential to eliminate the need for extensive power lines
and central station electricity generation.
Tanzania has a very limited power distribution system, reaching only 10%
of its population of 45 million. Even
with this limited reach there is often insufficient power available to supply
the electricity required, resulting in regular power outages.
Solar energy, by contrast, is in abundant supply and getting
more and more affordable. While it is
still too expensive for most rural Tanzanians, with subsidies TanzSolar has
been able to make this technology available.
Of course, solar electricity generation has only flourished in the US
and Europe because of subsidies, so it should come as no surprise that the
Least Developed Countries of Sub-Saharan Africa should also require assistance. Solar electricity can enable environmentally
sustainable development in Africa.
For more information about TanzSolar and solar lighting in
Tanzania see: www.tanzsolar.org.
For more information about Green Africa Awards see: http://www.earthmauritius.org/#!__green-awards
contact person: Marianne Walpert
415-891-7657
