What is the name of your organization?
Glow Group
What is the name of your solution?
Glow Solve
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Glow is a solar-powered mosquito repellant lamp designed to prevent malaria and improve community health in off-grid areas.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Gulu, Uganda
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Uganda
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
We are addressing the urgent public health threat posed by mosquito-borne diseases, particularly malaria, which disproportionately affects underserved and off-grid communities. According to the World Health Organization (2023), there were 249 million malaria cases globally and an estimated 608,000 deaths, with 95% of cases and 94% of deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda alone, 16 people die of malaria every day, and the disease is responsible for 30–50% of outpatient visits and 20% of hospital admissions.
Most vulnerable families in these areas lack access to electricity and safe mosquito control tools. They rely on toxic mosquito coils, kerosene lamps, or no protection at all—resulting in respiratory complications and heightened malaria risk.
Our solution, Glow, is a solar-powered mosquito repellent lamp that combines clean lighting with natural, oil-based repellent diffusion. It reduces mosquito exposure without smoke, chemicals, or reliance on grid power. Glow addresses multiple intersecting challenges: health insecurity, energy poverty, and environmental degradation.
We aim to protect families in malaria-endemic regions, beginning in Northern Uganda, where over 70% of households are off-grid. Globally, over 600 million people live in malaria-risk zones without electricity—Glow is designed with them in mind.
What is your solution?
Glow is a solar-powered mosquito repellent lamp designed for off-grid households vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases like malaria. It combines clean LED lighting with an oil-based repellent diffusion system, offering a safe, sustainable, and affordable way to protect families while providing nighttime illumination.
By day, Glow charges through a compact photovoltaic solar panel. At night, it uses the stored energy to power two key features: a low-energy LED light for visibility and a gentle heating coil that warms a cartridge filled with natural essential oils such as citronella, lemongrass, or eucalyptus—all proven to repel mosquitoes. This heat releases the oil’s vapor into the air, creating a mosquito-resistant zone without smoke, fire, or harmful chemicals.
Glow is portable, low-maintenance, and designed for rural environments, with refillable oil chambers and a durable casing. It replaces harmful alternatives like kerosene lamps and mosquito coils, which are linked to respiratory illness and fire hazards.
This solution leverages renewable energy, local plant-based resources, and simple thermoelectric design to reduce malaria exposure while addressing energy poverty. Glow is more than a product—it’s a health intervention, a climate solution, and a tool for safer, brighter nights.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Glow is designed for low-income, off-grid households in malaria-endemic regions, starting with rural Northern Uganda. These communities face a double burden: lack of access to safe, clean energy and constant exposure to mosquito-borne diseases, especially malaria. Most families live in basic housing, rely on open fires or kerosene lamps for light, and use smoke-based mosquito repellents or none at all—putting children, pregnant women, and the elderly at greatest risk.
Our primary users are women-headed households, smallholder farmers, and children, especially those under five, who account for 67% of malaria deaths globally (WHO, 2023). They are underserved by conventional health systems and rarely prioritized in technological innovation.
Glow directly addresses their needs by offering non-toxic mosquito protection and clean lighting in one affordable, sustainable device. It improves health outcomes by reducing exposure to malaria and indoor air pollution. It enhances quality of life by extending productive hours at night, improving sleep, and cutting fuel costs. By reducing dependence on fossil fuels, Glow also helps protect the environment they rely on.
With Glow, families can reclaim safe nights, breathe cleaner air, and live healthier, more empowered lives especially in the most energy and health insecure communities.
