Featured Energy Grant: IDEAAS
cost as kerosene and batteries. Credit: IDEAAS
Innovative Model to Bring (Solar) Power to the People
Sometimes an innovation isn't just a technology, but an idea of how to share that technology. Instituto para o Desenvolvimento de Energias Alternativas e da Auto Sustentabilidade (IDEAAS) offers both. Working with an innovative model that supports leasing rather than selling solar energy technologies to rural poor, IDEAAS is demonstrating a means of sustainable development in Brazil's Amazon basin.
By marrying their unique business model with innovations in solar energy, IDEAAS distributes solar energy systems to low-income populations and charges a monthly fee
equal to what each family previously spent on kerosene
and batteries.
Backed by a grant from the Lemelson, IDEAAS has initiated a pilot program in several communities using their solar energy leasing model. They intend to expand this program, scaling up the distribution of solar energy systems to as many as 3,000 households in Brazil's Rio Tapajós area.
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