BLUETTI Aims To Power Up A Continent With Its Lighting An African Family Initiative
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CleanTechnica attended RE+ this year in Las Vegas and we were able to spend a ton of time with BLUETTI at the show.
We were eager to learn more about the company and people behind the products we know so well. While there, BLUETTI’s leadership talked to us about their 5-year-long initiative to empower African families with BLUETTI technology, and it really struck a chord with us.
The “Lighting An African Family” initiative, or LAAF, aims to light up an entire continent by donating a solar, energy storage, and lighting system to a family in Africa when one of their larger home energy storage systems is purchased elsewhere in the world. The initiative is aimed directly at combating energy poverty.
BLUETTI identified the need to lower the barrier to accessing affordable, renewable energy years ago, launching the LAAF initiative and lighting up the first home as part of the project in 2021.
The program gifts BLUETTI Solar Home System kits to families in need, which come with everything needed to generate power, store power, and use the power. The energy storage system utilizes long lasting lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) battery cells with a battery management system that keeps them all in balance. This ensures a long life for the system that BLUETTI expects will still have at least 80% of its rated capacity after 10 years of use.
The integrated MPPT solar charge controller optimizes power flowing from the solar panel in the kit into the batteries. In addition to the stable LFP chemistry being used, the MPPT controller ensures the solar panels won’t be able to overcharge the battery pack.
The batteries can then be used to power lights in the home, allowing students and family members alike to read and study later into the evening. Providing light with renewable solar power and a home energy storage system also makes it easy to charge up cellphones and other small devices for the home, which are often charged from scooter motors or portable combustion generators.
Access to energy in Africa is significantly constrained, with an average per capita energy consumption of just 180 kWh in the area BLUETTI is launching the program in Africa. This stands in stark contrast to the 7,500 kWh consumed per capita in Europe and the staggering 14,000 kWh consumed per capita in the US.
A home solar, storage, and lighting system offers up the possibility of leapfrogging into a clean, renewable energy system.
It is as simple as it sounds, with BLUETTI providing solar, energy storage, and lighting systems to African families that are living without electricity. The same sun above pours its energy down onto everyone on the planet, and these systems from BLUETTI make it possible for that same energy to light homes up at night.
BLUETTI’s leadership spoke at a reception at RE+ and their passion for the LAAF initiative overflowed onto the stage. They are truly excited not only about their impressive array of home energy solutions, but in driving such an ambitious goal. The aspirational goal of this project is to help as many families as possible to get access to clean and renewable energy solutions. They are specifically targeting to power up 1,000,000 African homes by the end of 2026.
This video highlights a gift of 100 BLUETTI Solar Home Systems to YabaTech in Nigeria for distribution to families in need.
Disclaimer: BLUETTI paid for a portion of the author’s travel & accommodations to attend RE+.
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