The Solanterns Initiative has been nominated by LAUNCH and its founding partners— NASA, USAID, US Department of State and NIKE— as one of this year’s 10 LAUNCH “Energy Innovators”. Selected from among 200 submissions reviewed by a diverse panel of experts from government, industry, investment and research sectors, Solanterns was among the ten finalists chosen for their “groundbreaking ideas for the provision of more sustainable energy sources and improved access to energy for both developed and developing world populations.”

This year’s LAUNCH focus was on energy, with a view that “sustaining quality of life requires transformative advances in energy science and technology, along with new models, programs and behaviors.” LAUNCH identified 10 innovative “visionaries” — world-class ideas, technologies or programs — that showed the greatest promise for making tangible and impactful progress for society. 

The LAUNCH program was formed in an effort to identify innovations poised to create transformational change in critical sustainability issues, to connect innovators to thought leaders and advisors. 

Solanterns is an initiative of Renewable Energy Ventures (K) Ltd., a renewable energy and energy efficiency project development and advisory firm headquartered in Kenya, with a presence in Washington DC metro area, USA.

The Solanterns Initiative was launched in response to the realization that “a significant number of Kenya's rural households will not have access to modern electricity in their lifetime, despite the very ambitious and well intentioned electrification efforts currently underway in the country. And yet, viable and affordable exist in the market today that would enable even the poorest Kenyan to have clean, bright, reliable and affordable lighting.”

Solanterns is also a 2010 SEED Award Winner.  The award recognizes Solanterns' focus on job creation through engaging micro – entrepreneurs in renting out the Sun King Solar lanterns to families that wouldn’t otherwise be able to purchase them. 

Learn more:
Find out more about LAUNCH: http://www.launch.org/
Go to Solanterns website: http://www.solanterns.com/
Go to Renewable Energy Ventures (K) Ltd.’s website: http://www.africarenewables.com/
Read other Lighting Africa stories on Renewable Energy Ventures: http://www.lightingafrica.org/portable-solar-lanterns-donated-by-usaid-to-help-break-the-cycle-of-poverty.html