Barefoot power

Barefoot power

Barefoot Power (www.barefoootpower.com) is an Australian private company that aims to offer 1.6 billion low-income households in developing countries access to modern electricity, and eliminate kerosene lighting. Globally, approximately 300 million households, mostly in India and Africa, spend up to US$38 billion per year on kerosene and disposable batteries for lighting and have no access to conventional electricity. Barefoot Power has designed an affordable and expandable home lighting system based on recent advances in white LED lighting technology and compact fluorescent lamps. The cost of using the lamps is similar to the current expenditure of $25-$75/year that the average poor household spends on kerosene; however, the products give 500-1000% times more lighting. Over time, home lighting kits will be interconnected to become village minigrids, and battery storage will be eliminated or minimized, reducing the cost of power. Finally, villages will be interconnected, fully reversing the process of traditional rural electrification.