Hanergy Thin-Film Power Group launched the Lighting Africa project at its first stop, in Tanzania – together with the China Foundation for Peace and Development and Tanzania-China Friendship Association – by promising to donate the first 100 Humbrellas in October.
Lighting Africa is a philanthropic project initiated by Hanergy and joined by China Foundation for Peace and Development in April in Beijing.
The project aims to provide environmentally friendly lighting devices to African children to improve their reading time and help electricity deprived populations in Africa.
The Dar es Salaam event, that featured a fully lit Humbrella, was witnessed by dignitaries including Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China, Song Tao; President of the Tanzania-China Friendship Association, the Hon. Dr. Salim A Salim; Hanergy Kenya Sales Directors Li Chuan and Zhang Xu; and more than 700 residents from the Kagera region, along with teachers and pupils from the Oysterbay Primary School.
According to the International Energy Agency, 880 million people are living with insufficient electricity so power shortage has become an important factor that restricts the development of Africa.
Minister Song said: “We hope more NGOs, enterprises and individuals can join the cause of building a prosperous Tanzania, making the people’s lives better.
“We hope [the] Lighting Africa project [can] be a successful program at its first stop, in Tanzania.”
Donating the Humbrella, a groundbreaking product from Hanergy, Mr. Li said: “At Hanergy, we’re steadfast to ensure the all-round development of Africa. We’re confident that the Humbrella will surely light up the lives of African children and facilitate the fast-paced development of Africa. Today’s step to donate [the] Humbrella to Tanzania is testimony of our commitment to helping the underdeveloped regions of Africa facing power shortage.”
“This is just the beginning of Hanergy’s philanthropy in Africa. We’re poised to bring more Humbrella to [the] African continent.”
The Humbrella is a new thin-film solar product developed by Hanergy. Weighing only 8.8kg and with a diameter of 2.7m, the Humbrella is covered with thin-film solar panels for power generation in sunny and cloudy days.
Equipped with integrated functions of off-grid power supply, electricity storage, night lighting and terminal charging, the newly unveiled product is expected to store as much as 40,000 mAh of electricity, ensuring a 10-hour high-quality reading time, or the power to charge more than ten 3,000 mAh smartphones.
