Renew Solar Program

Close to 8.6 million children in underserved communities of Uganda are enrolled in Government aided/Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools, but they have historically been held under energy poverty. Without reliable access to electricity, these students rely on kerosene lamps or paraffin to study at night, which affects both their health and the environment. This energy crisis limits access to equitable and quality education, with 47.8% of the students dropping out from the national enrollment being girls. Additionally, 172,864 children with disabilities in primary schools and 8,945 in secondary schools are more likely to be out of school due to these barriers. Young people with disabilities (aged 8-18) are less likely to attend school compared to their peers without disabilities, and their literacy rates are lower.
The Renew Solar Program is a permanent part of the Climate Inclusion Network (CIN) and Our goal is to provide free solar-powered lamps to girls and students with disabilities in underserved communities. These lamps give them a safe, renewable way to study at night, reducing their dependence on harmful kerosene lamps. This simple solution helps improve education and introduces young people to the benefits of renewable energy.
These Kerosene lamps emit high amounts of fine particulate matter, carbon-monoxide, Sulphur-dioxide and other dangerous fumes, which accumulate in living spaces and cause cancer, respiratory problems like asthma, bronchitis, and other lung diseases and impair children’s mental health development. These children who study by kerosene lamps are exposed to such harmful gases every night.
Kerosene is a fossil fuel, which contributes to air pollution and climate change. Every time 1 litre of kerosene is burnt, it releases 2.5Kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and other greenhouse gases, which are extremely harmful to our planet. There is great potential for improvement of indoor air quality and general CO2 mitigation by urgently replacing kerosene lamps with renewable energy-based lighting systems.
Our vision is to support close to 8.6 million students across Uganda and beyond with an aim to:
– Distribute solar lamps to students in rural and underserved communities and promote the use of renewable energy.
– Help reduce dropout rates, especially among girls and students with disabilities and Increase literacy rates by providing a safe, reliable source of light for studying.
In addition to providing solar lamps, we;
-Teach students about renewable energy through offering educational materials to help them and their communities understand the importance of clean energy.
– We work closely with schools to track the academic improvement of students who receive these solar lamps. These partnership with schools allows us to collect long-term data and ensure progressive steps towards our mission.