Off-grid Solar Lighting Could Produce Many Jobs to Third World Countries

A new study out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found solar-LED lighting could create 2 million jobs in developing countries. And it has already generated more jobs as compared to fuel-based lighting according to Energy Matters.

In developed nations, people tend to take lighting and illumination for granted. Security would be compromised, the air would be more polluted, productivity curtailed, incidences of fire would increase and other issues related to fossil fuel-based lighting will be an issue. But as the clean lighting movement really kicks in, what will be the impact on people who sell fuels and any other associated lighting equipment?

Evan Mills. Berkeley Lab researcher stated that fuel-based lighting supports about 150,000 jobs all over the world, but solar-LED lighting is exceeding that. According to Mr Mills and based on a survey of major solar-LED lighting companies, 38 jobs are created for each 10,000 people living off the grid for whom stand-alone solar-LED lights are suitable. He estimated that about 2 million jobs could be created to serve the poorest of the poor – approximately 112 million homes that do not have electricity access or connected to the grid or people who are unable to afford more extensive solar power systems.

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