Lighting Lives, Powering Resilience

Most of us take light for granted. We flip a switch, the light comes on. But for an estimated 700 million people around the world who live without electricity, sunset means struggling with darkness or risking their health by using dangerous kerosene lamps or candles.

Santa Barbara nonprofit Unite to Light believes that access to clean, affordable light and energy is a human right – critical to improving health, education, and prosperity. The organization provides low-cost solar lights and power banks to those without electricity across the globe. Its solar light was developed locally at UCSB’s Institute for Energy Efficiency 15 years ago and has a battery with a 10,000-hour life, which translates to more than seven years of nightly use.

The simple light makes a massive difference to recipients who are gifted the devices in the targeted projects Unite to Light focuses on: Helping students study at night, equipping midwives with portable lights needed to save lives, and providing a beacon of hope to areas suffering power outages after natural disasters.

“Over the years, from South Africa to Haiti, we’ve tracked test scores and graduation rates for students before and after they received our solar lights,” says Megan Birney Rudert, Unite to Light’s president & CEO. “We consistently see an increase of 30 percent just from having access to a solar light.” 

Last year, the nonprofit partnered with ChildFund and Books for Africa to install 600 “Light Libraries” in Zambia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia where students checked out and returned the lights like library books. “The return on investment is tremendous,” says Birney Rudert. “Each $10 solar light can be used again and again – shared among students, reused for new classes each year, and ultimately impacting dozens of children.”

Through the United Nations Population Fund, Unite to Light has equipped midwives in Bangladesh with solar-powered battery banks and lights so they would no longer need to deliver babies by candlelight or mobile phone flashlights. “What a difference,” one recipient said. “I can focus on the mother and baby, not just on surviving the night. 

While much of its work is global, Unite to Light also operates here in Santa Barbara by distributing solar lights and power banks among our neighbors experiencing homelessness. The devices allow people to connect to critical services and provide safety at night.

This year, Unite to Light is piloting a new technology to improve community resilience – 8 PowerPoles sited across the county will power a variety of critical needs – from a food pantry to tsunami warning systems – creating safer, stronger communities prepared for emergencies.