SolarBuddy's StudentBuddy Transforms Learning and Lives

Tonight, when the sun starts to set, please will you resist for a moment the urge to turn on your lights? 

Instead, watch as the gloom creeps through the room, and the deepening shadows slowly consume every corner of your home. At first, your eyes will compensate. But when the last rays of sunlight are gone, the darkness will be complete. And at that point, I ask you to try to imagine what it might be like to be one of the children for whom this isn't a one-off. This is daily life for millions of children who live in extreme energy poverty and for whom the dark devastatingly limits their opportunity to thrive.

Picture yourself as 14 years old who has used the waning sunlight to finish required chores and now you have homework to do. You know there is no way to help your community the way you want to, the way it critically needs, unless you have an education. With no access to the modern mains 'grid' power, and no fuel for your kerosene lamps, it will not be possible to learn as you desperately desire. Light will only return when the sun starts to rise again.

Everyone you know lives this same way. Occasionally families have money to buy kerosene but often only at the cost of foregoing food, medical or school supplies. Even then you feel guilty for wishing for an alternative because the fumes of the kerosene sting your eyes, burn your throat making you cough constantly and make it hard to think clearly. The only alternative you have though is to burn animal manure or firewood, and the smoke from this inside your windowless home is terrible too. On the very rare occasion your family has money for batteries for a flashlight, your parents use it – and your family has only one.

You know your teachers do their best but in dark classrooms with many students it is very hard from them to teach as they need. Your teachers set the learning and homework tasks for the day but you many and of your peers are unable to complete them as due to required chores in daylight hours and no light to use once the sun sets. This makes the teachers sad so they leave your school to find a place where students are better equipped to learn and the school has more teaching resources.

The problem SolarBuddy is solving with StudentBuddy is the complex challenge of extreme energy poverty which impacts the health and well-being, educational outcomes, and economic stability of the children and families experiencing it as well as our environment.

The safe, reliable, clean renewable solar energy supplied by a StudentBuddy solar system, which is directly gifted to children, results in:

• light for a child to study after dark – without this, access for light to study is most often not prioritized over other family needs,
• removes financial burden of paying for energy for lighting and charging so access to school supplies is higher, and
• with no toxic fumes burning eyes and throats, increased time to study is made possible, resulting in better grades and increased engagement with schooling.

All of these elements lead directly to increasing learning opportunities, bridging the learning gaps and connecting these children with the worldwide education resources they need. Regina from Tanzania, a recipient of a SolarBuddy light told us “ my solar light has given me the motivation to read at night but also the courage to ask questions about things that I do not understand to my teachers. Before receiving my solar light, learning at home was challenging. The only flashlight I could use for homework was the same one my parents use for cooking and household chores. I am very grateful”  

Approximately 789 million people live in extreme energy poverty, yet it remains a global crisis that’s invisible to most in the developed world. Children who live in extreme energy poverty are some of the most underserved children in the world. Often living in the most remote places on Earth, they can have a sense of helplessness, of being forgotten by the rest of humanity, invisible, but it does not need to be this way as SolarBuddy solutions are ready to be deployed. Girls in particular are at most risk of disengaging from school as they are the family members regularly removed from school to undertake menial jobs such as firewood collection or walking (or waiting) for hours to charge devices at community charging locations.

The gift of a StudentBuddy will transform these lives, particularly of girls, by providing clean, safe, reliable solar energy for light and USB charging.

SolarBuddy is determined to gift StudentBuddy solar system solutions directly to millions of young people globally who live with little or no access to electricity – they live in extreme energy poverty. 

SolarBuddy is ready to grow then scale the distribution of StudentBuddy; the need is huge, critical and urgent.

SolarBuddy designs solutions in line with our 3 core principles

1. Education is core to the solution. It helps to build local awareness and understanding of extreme energy poverty, creates better global citizens, and is the most important factor in creating equitable opportunities for a child.   
2. Sustainable innovation shapes our solutions. We design with people as our focus, ensuring that everything we create is simple, socially impactful, environmentally sustainable and makes a difference for a decade not a day.  
3. Connected communities are joined at the heart and united by need. When we share ownership of the problem, we lighten the load. The more hearts who join us, through donations, support and advocacy, the more positive outcomes we can create.

SolarBuddy’s newest solar system, StudentBuddy, has been designed to provide the functionality a young adult living in energy poverty needs; it can be a ceiling hung light, it has a flashlight and includes USB charging. 

SolarPanel

• All aluminium parts 100% recyclable
• 100% repairable design
• Lockable stand for floor or roof mounting
• Cable management feature
• Compact and lightweight design 

SolarLight

• Rugged and sustainably designed
• Rechargeable
• Power pack storage capabilities
• Ability to attach to different stands
• Enclosure rating to IP54
• Materials UV stable for up to 5 years in full sun
• All aluminium parts 100% recyclable
• 100% repairable design 

Technical Specifications

• Weight: 1.2kg per unit
• Panel: 35cm x 21cm x 3.5cm
• Light: 37.5cm x 5cm x 4.5cm
• External 5.5W Solar Panel (poly)
• 2 metres Solar Panel cable
• DC Jack Input for Solar Panel up to 5.5V
• Output for the LED Bar: 12/320 Lumen Light
• Output for the Flashlight: 150 Lumen Light
• 3 Light settings: Low, High and Flashlight
• IP64 Waterproof rated
• Sun Exposure Protection
• Up to 50 hours of light on low-mode
• Up to 6 hours of light on high-mode
• Up to 6 hours of light on flashlight-mode
• 3000mAh 3.6V Lithium-Ion Battery
• 4 to 5 Hours Solar Charge Time
• USB 5V output port to charge other devices
• 10 x Warm White LEDs
• 1 x High-Power Natural White LED
• 2 x RGB LEDs
• Battery Charging Indicator
• Battery OK and Low-Level Indicator
• Low Battery Auto Shutdown
• Overcharge and Over-Discharge Protections
• Up to 1000mA Charging current
• Up to 500mA USB output current
• Over 6 months of standby battery charge

StudentBuddy is deliberately a modular design. There are two critical reasons for this.

1. A modular design enables StudentBuddy to be 100% repairable, with easy part replacement should an element fail. This is essential to ensure longevity of the StudentBuddy unit, reducing waste and is core to SolarBuddy’s work to promote the circular economy.
2. The modular design is core to SolarBuddy’s Learn-Make-Illuminate model where US school students will receive the StudentBuddy in kit format, and as part of an immersive, hands-on, experiential STEAM lesson, they assemble it and then gift it to the young person living in extreme energy poverty. The students assembling the StudentBuddy will also write a letter of encouragement that will be gifted to the young person living in energy poverty, alongside the solar system.

StudentBuddy will be deployed in phases. 

Phase 1 includes lighting, flashlight and USB charging. (This is available now)

Phase 2 will add a 3D printing element where US school students can 3D print accessories 

Phase 3 will add a coding /programming of the light by US school students to streamline data capture and enable regular and direct reporting for monitoring and evaluation. 

With an immersive STEAM opportunity to transform the life of another, to create 3D accessories and code for real life impact, StudentBuddy is an experiential lesson that will last for a student's lifetime.

Packaging of StudentBuddy Learn-Make-Illuminate kits to school students.

Sustainable innovation is a SolarBuddy core principle. This includes all componentry and packaging.

Recycled Paper Pulp Tray fits StudentBuddy light and solar panel kit.

Light, Flashlight and USB charging on left    Solar Panel on right

StudentBuddy will be directly gifted to young people living in extreme energy poverty via SolarBuddy’s global network of in-country expert NGO partners. This network model enables SolarBuddy to remain lean, replicating successful community led, locally knowledgeable partnerships across the world, and additionally leveraging existing education, health and financial programs of in-country partner NGO's. To date, SolarBuddy has already gifted solar solutions that are illuminating the lives of nearly one million children in 18 countries.

A young person living in extreme energy poverty lives a life devastatingly, but now unnecessarily, limited by darkness because SolarBuddy has solar systems available that will provide the opportunity for them learn after dark, gaining the essential education to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive.

The impact on children's learning begins before they even take their first breathe, as their development before birth is affected due to the toxic air their mother breathes.

In addition to limiting learning, living without access to electricity limits opportunities to thrive as it places these children in danger every day; the fumes from toxic alternative energy sources impact children physically and cognitively, burns and property fire are real and high risk, and there are unseen dangers in the dark. Women and girls are especially at high risk due to high personal safety risk of unilluminated areas and because of the time they spend in the family's, often windowless, home. More women and children die every year from respiratory illnesses than from AIDS and malaria combined. 

A StudentBuddy solar system will provide a most basic of human rights - light and provide USB charging for mobile phones and small devices. This functionality will facilitate the means to learn for the most underserved children in the world by giving the children back time to study, keeping girls from being taken from school to charge their family’s devices, saving money from expensive charging stations, remove the need for firewood collection which is a major cause of deforestation and forest degradation. It will enable young people to connect with each other, their families, their communities and the wider world. 

StudentBuddy brings not only the opportunity for scholastic learning but because of SolarBuddy's Learn-Make-Illuminate model the act of global citizenship connects people, the uplifting of hope and human spirit from human compassion. This is true for the student giver and the student recipient.           

The gifted StudentBuddy will transform the recipient’s life immediately, but simultaneously it will have also changed the life of the student gifting it. A real-life, grassroots application of STEAM will provide inspiration for the sustainable technology driven solutions of the future. Being empowered to change another’s life builds human compassion and an understanding of the bridges that can be built between communities. 

All students, including underrepresented students in underserved areas of the US, will be able to participate in this immersive STEAM experience via opportunities with US education networks (see below) and/or other school initiatives which are corporate sponsored. This benefits not only the US students but entire communities as US employees of sponsoring companies may be invited to local schools to assist their local students with the StudentBuddy assembly. The enormous benefits of serving another are well documented, with the flow-on effects to mental health and well-being being life changing.    

Additional information

SolarBuddy does understand that people external to the US education system will want to support young adults living in energy poverty with the gift of a StudentBuddy. This has been comprehended in SolarBuddy's Digital Inclusion strategy which will enable the direct gifting of StudentBuddy solar systems to children living in extreme energy poverty.

Please note: SolarBuddy’s NGO and Logistics team keep constantly updated of NGO partner needs and any specific country restrictions or requirements globally. Determining shipment designations to certain countries is done in consultation with NGO partners and in consideration of relevant global factors at the time. 

SolarBuddy does not partner with any NGO organizations in the embargoed countries listed.

SolarBuddy is extremely well positioned to deliver this solution having worked for the past 6 years to gift purpose designed solar systems to children living in energy poverty across the world. SolarBuddy has already gifted hundreds of thousands of JuniorBuddy solar lights to children in 18 countries. (Nb JuniorBuddy is the precursor to StudentBuddy).

All SolarBuddy products focus on grassroots change and human centred design with input from local people, educators, community leaders, and SolarBuddy's network of in-country NGOs from concept stage, prototype testing and with ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

SolarBuddy works globally to illuminate the futures of all children. We deliberately partner with in-country NGOs across the world because they are community based, working daily with local people to improve education, health and financial viability. This ensures local people are working with and helping local people, and that local languages, cultures and needs are always considered in SolarBuddy solutions. From years of engagement with local communities we understand their thirst for education and the devastating limits living in energy poverty puts on this.

In addition to managing distributions of gifted solar systems, in-country NGOs also manage employment opportunities from SolarBuddy for local people to quality control the SolarBuddy solar systems prior to them being distributed, post distribution they organize STEM lessons for children involving the SolarBuddy solar systems and keep in regular contact with children, families, schools and communities for ongoing monitoring and evaluation. All of these connection points build constant engagement between SolarBuddy and people living in energy poverty.

As the SolarBuddy Learn-Make-Illuminate model connects people, students in developed countries with underserved children in developing countries, SolarBuddy has also built school networks.  

Initially operating from SolarBuddy’s Australian base, SolarBuddy has now launched in the US and will shortly be connecting with US education networks and already has agreement to pilot with Junior Achievement and US school students. This pilot will serve to prove the Learn-Make-Illuminate model with US students using SolarBuddy’s JuniorBuddy solar light, and with proof of concept, will move to include additional SolarBuddy products such as StudentBuddy. Nb: Students in Australian schools have already been involved in assembling StudentBuddy solar systems.

SolarBuddy US is supported by the SolarBuddy Australia team, US based financial team and US Board. 

SolarBuddy has been working to illuminate the futures of all children since 2016. This work has until now, been carried out from SolarBuddy Australia.

SolarBuddy has recently launched in the US as a registered 501c3, and is applying to this Challenge to connect with a network of impact minded leaders who can assist in driving SolarBuddy’s development, growth and scaling. SolarBuddy already holds a leadership position in the transition to clean energy for the most underserved people in the world. The majority of people in the communities SolarBuddy serve, live on less than $1.90 per day. 

Incredibly, despite the global crisis of energy poverty impacting billions of people, it is largely invisible to people living in the developed world.

SolarBuddy’s goal is to connect with leaders and networks who are willing to assist in bringing energy poverty the resources, attention and funding it requires, and which are demanded, to solve a global crisis of this scale. Poverty will not end without first ending energy poverty. 

Scaling the SolarBuddy Learn-Make-Illuminate model will result in bridging STEAM learning gaps for all US students, including those who are underserved, and it will also bridge the learning gaps for children living in extreme energy poverty by bringing them clean, safe, reliable SolarBuddy solar systems. 

The opportunities for young people across the world to learn, succeed and thrive are endless.  

StudentBuddy’s application of technology is extremely innovative, both in the StudentBuddy product itself and the delivery via Learn-Make-Illuminate. The requirements to create a modular product which results in a solution that will be transformative for the child living in energy poverty for over a decade, whilst ensuring the US students assembling the product are also learning, engaging and assembling the StudentBuddy correctly, needed thinking that pushed the boundaries of what is considered the norm.

The experience of gifting a solar system you’ve assembled is extraordinary. The approach of engaging students in a classroom scenario that has long lasting, real life, measurable, impactful, sustainable end results will make for future generations of changemakers – all of whom understand the power of sustainable innovation. This immersive, innovative approach to STEAM, global citizenship and renewal energy will help determine the next generation of leaders and see them thrive.

The ability to engage US students with an experiential STEAM opportunity, has the potential to entirely change the way in which school leaders and communities think about both engaging with purpose driven organizations and how to connect both hearts and minds of their students. This is catalytic. This is life changing.

There are of course other solar lights available to people living in energy poverty. SolarBuddy however is the only organization globally determined to prioritize light for children by gifting directly to the children, and simultaneously building a connected community with the generations of changemakers the world desperately requires.

SolarBuddy plans to implement the StudentBuddy Learn-Make-Illuminate model in 500 US schools during 2022. This will result in 50,000 students having the opportunity to assemble a StudentBuddy and the gifting of 25,000 StudentBuddy solar systems to a child living in extreme energy poverty (StudentBuddy assembly is deliberately designed to be a collaboration between at least 2 senior school students)

Over the next five years the network of US schools will grow, each year compounding on the last as new students are offered the opportunity to participate. In 5 years, it is anticipated over 10,000 US schools will be participating, resulting in the learning engagement STEAM opportunities for 1,000,000 US students and the gifting of 500,000 StudentBuddy solar systems to children living in extreme energy poverty.

These impact goals will be achieved via mutually rewarding partnerships with education networks and associations, values aligned corporations who wish to invest in their local students and communities, and local school communities themselves, whilst additionally investing in the human capital of the SolarBuddy US team, marketing and technology infrastructure such as a new website. This model has already been proven in Australia and this proof of concept will now be adapted where necessary and successfully applied to the US market.

SolarBuddy believes strongly in the inherent importance of both quantitative and qualitative data and already measures impact of SolarBuddy’s JuniorBuddy light both in-country and students participating in Learn-Make-Illuminate. It is through these measures that we know that one JuniorBuddy (the precursor to StudentBuddy) transforms the lives of 5 people on average. As StudentBuddy is a larger solar system with increased functionally, SolarBuddy expects the number of people impacted per StudentBuddy to be higher. JuniorBuddy current measures include quantitative data such as additional study hours (average 2 hours every night), financial change due to less output for energy (families currently save on average 16 weeks of income), and net carbon emissions (the equivalent of 21.3 tree seedlings grown for 10 years), and regular qualitative data in the form of images, videos and stories from the children, parents, community leaders and NGO partners.

See and hear from the children SolarBuddy serves - children whose lives you can transform!

Thank you from Angel

Children at night studying with lights

“We can study well now at home during the night”

SolarBuddy measures the number of school students who participate in Learn-Make-Illuminate model and receives regular qualitative feedback from schools about the impact the program has had on their teacher and students.

SolarBuddy also measures the number of people and organizations we partner with. As a participant to the UN Global Compact, SolarBuddy is passionate about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aligns all our work to them. Whilst all the SDGs are critical, SolarBuddy believes SDG #17 Partnerships for the Goals, is essential to deliver the transformational change required to end energy poverty as this goal is inclusive of all the elements of society that need to work together. SolarBuddy also measures the number of people and organizations we partner with.

The core technologies powering the StudentBuddy solar system are design and manufacturing, both of which need to be exacting and sophisticated.  SolarBuddy plans to include VR into future versions of Learn-Make-Illuminate to facilitate bringing students even closer to understanding this global crisis  and for US students to be able to truly understand the impact StudentBuddy can make to a child living in extreme energy poverty. 

Additionally SolarBuddy utilizes a variety of digital technology - camera and videos, (drones when possible) for impact reporting and software technology to efficiently streamline delivery and management of Learn-Make-Illuminate and the subsequent global distributions of solar systems to partner NGOs and children living in extreme energy poverty. The focus on, and results delivered from technological solutions, enables the core SolarBuddy team to remain relatively small and agile.

SolarBuddy also utilizes software and social technologies to connect and regularly communicate with our global community. 

SolarBuddy believes strongly in the importance of a diverse and inclusive Board. Commencing in 2016, SolarBuddy Australia's Board and team has always reflected this with Board seats and roles held by people with diverse backgrounds, education, gender, race, age and professional perspectives. The aim for the SolarBuddy in the USA is the same. New members who are able to bring a unique perspective will be recruited, thus the composition of the Board and team will drive the culture of diversity, equality and inclusion that SolarBuddy strives to deliver. 

SolarBuddy approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is enshrined in SolarBuddy Values and Guiding Principles

We believe.    We believe in fairness for all, we believe everyone is born equal and it is only circumstance that separates us. We believe in the helping hand not the handout and we believe everyone, everywhere, can fulfil their own beautiful potential. Ultimately, we believe in the extraordinary, so we test limits to break away from the norm.   

 We are passionate.   The children are our ultimate focus and everything we do is for them.  We aspire to emanate their innate curiosity, wonder and sense of what is right. We are diligent, collaborative and uplift others, inspiring action with kindness and compassion. We have fun. We smile. We laugh. We are a family, a community, a movement, with an unwavering belief in achieving our mission.         

We are dynamic.  We are raw, authentic and have personality. We listen and talk to each other to improve and constantly innovate. We provide a safe and supportive space to take initiative and to learn how to be of service to others. We are team players who wholeheartedly value, respect and trust in each other’s potential to deliver the remarkable.  

We are dedicated.   Our purpose is to create a more equitable, just and sustainable world, and this drives our hard work. We have a clear vision everyday of why we are here, and we hold that close to our hearts. We are driven, honest, ambitious and take on the challenge to create and innovate quality led solutions. We ask for help should we need it, and we are equally ready to help others. Work does not feel like work to us.  

Guiding Principles  

We will promote social justice every day.  

We will encourage a love of learning.  

We will dream big and then bigger.  

We will prioritise mental and physical wellbeing.  

We will empower others to join our community.  

We will use a framework of sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to guide our decisions.  

SolarBuddy is a registered charity in Australia and the US and will be operating StudentBuddy Learn-Make-Illuminate from the US.

The following document details SolarBuddy's key customers, beneficiaries, programs and products

An Introduction to SolarBuddy - Fighting Extreme Energy Poverty

SolarBuddy employs a business model that harnesses the power of programs tailored to suit different audience requirements. 

Programs are

• Education Program
• Event Program
• Festival Program
• Donation Program (includes Grants and Capacity funding)

Further details on each program, their impact and further funding is included here SolarBuddy Impact and Funding Report

SolarBuddy has been operating successfully from Australia since 2016 and recently launched as a 501c3 in the US. In 2018 sales of SolarBuddy lights grew by 549% on the prior year, and experienced over 200% growth in 2019. COVID-19 provided both challenges and opportunities for SolarBuddy. SolarBuddy rose to both including launching in the USA. It is anticipated that the US will be a significantly larger opportunity for SolarBuddy than the already extremely successful SolarBuddy Australia  

SolarBuddy Australia Financial Report 2020