Help provide “cleantech” solar solutions to end energy poverty in Honduras by reducing the use of toxic and expensive kerosene in the home.

Why we care: Lack of efficient energy leaves Honduran families in the dark and with an unhealthy reliance on dangerous kerosene lanterns that pose a threat to physical and environmental health.

How we’re solving this: Distributing high-quality and low-cost energy efficient solar products, including solar lighting and phone chargers, to entrepreneurs in Honduras to combat energy poverty. 

In Honduras, unreliable electricity provided by imported diesel fuel is available to only 2/3 of the population, leaving the remaining third without any electricity in their homes.  This means that 2.5 million rural Hondurans are left in the dark, relying on dangerous kerosene lanterns or low-power candles once the sun sets.  Although these lanterns are readily accessible they lead to increased risks of house fires, chronic exposure to deadly indoor air pollution, and high weekly payments for many low-income women and their families.

Trees, Water & People works with partner organization, Asociación Hondureña para El Desarollo (AHDESA), in Honduras to distribute high quality, low-cost solar products, including solar powered lighting, solar PV systems, and solar mobile phone chargers.  These innovative products reduce daily fuel expenses and indoor air pollution associated with the continuous use of kerosene for home lighting.  By working with small businesses, women’s co-operatives, and local entrepreneurs, cleantech products will reach hundreds of isolated agricultural communities and therefore provide lighting for many off-grid families at a low-cost.   

These products will help to rapidly increase the accessibility of low-emission solar lighting and cell phone charging products to women and their families throughout Honduras.  By distributing the products and providing training opportunities for these new technologies to rural residents, we address the challenge of energy poverty that is so prominent in Honduras today. 

One out of every two people in the world has limited access to safe and affordable sources of energy, but with the distribution of solar products we are working to change this reality, pulling women and their loved ones out of poverty cycles.