On April 9, D.light’s Rural Solar Entrepreneur proposal won the contest “Lighting Rural Tanzania 2010,” sponsored by the Rural Energy Agency and the World Bank. 

D.light was awarded a grant of USD 100,000 in order to finance the design and delivery of innovative, low cost, high quality lighting products targeting low income consumers in rural Tanzania. Our Rural Solar Entrepreneur proposal will help to build a low-cost, high-quality rural solar entrepreneur network throughout the Arusha region of northern Tanzania.

Read more about the news in our media release.

For D.light, innovation in distribution channels is as key as innovation in product design and technology. Over the last months, 2 of our sales teams canvassed dozens of villages in central Tanzania, in an effort to market lights and to sign on new dealers.

Popular Tanzanian singer and poet Mrisho Mpoto, popularly known as “Mjomba”, joined one of these road-shows as a “safe light ambassador”, adding a considerable charismatic presence to the D.light road show spectacle. One of Mpoto’s latest songs, "Mama Siwema", speaking about solar lighting, has been the theme song for the campaign “Right to Safe Light”, organized in 2009 by D.light and Femina HIP, aimed at educating people to the use of safe and clean light.

Watch the video of the road-show experience on our Youtube.

On April 14, 2010, the county of Yushu, in northwest China´s Qinghai province, was devastated by a terrible earthquake. D.light’s International Sales Team works with the local organization KHA (Kham Health Association), which, in addition to providing local people with medical help, is supplying them our solar lights. KHA is raising relief funds from China, UK and Australia. The initial funds will be invested to provide lights for over 500 families.

Our Marketing team has recently created a promotional video explaining how D.light products work, and how they can turn solar power into light. The video, currently available in Hindi with English subtitles, will soon be re-dubbed in other languages, so as to allow for easier distribution in different local markets.
You can have a look at the video on our website.

How tough is the Nova? Watch this D.light video from India and find out!