Innovation

What is Mobiya solar lamp?

• With its strong commitment to offer innovative, reliable and affordable products for people living without access to electricity, SE has introduced Mobiya range of portable products for lighting and mobile charging. Mobiya solar lamp, or portable off-grid lighting, is a solar powered portable LED lamps with mobile charger, a solution for people living without access to grid. (SE’s website). This user friendly solar lamp, featured with 3 brightness settings, can provide up to 48 hours of lighting with one day of solar charge. The lamp is also equipped with mobile phone charger with USB port enabling users to charge mobile phone any time. And its superior battery technology - Lithium Ferro Phosphate battery delivers high performance for more than 3 years.
• The cost to bring one Mobiya solar lamp to Vietnam is around VND 600,000.

Sustainability - Bringing electric power to the powerless region in Vietnam and empowering local woman to keep it going.

• Aim to bring electric power to the powerless region in Vietnam and empowering local woman to keep it going, Schneider Electric Vietnam, which a very serious commitment about giving back to the community as much as possible, have recently launched a sustainable entrepreneurship plan called "Light it up and Woman Empowerment" in An Giang Province (Vietnam) in December 2016. It's desired to provide Mobiya solar lamps to around 2,300 off-grid households of Tinh Bien District in An Giang Province from 162 initial donated one. The project will also help empowering the local woman, who will keep the project on track, with a monthly additional source of income by offering them an entrepreneurship plan.
• SE has proposed an innovative entrepreneurship plan for the local woman union of Tinh Bien District that they will train the local woman how to use, troubleshoot, and lease the Mobiya solar lamp to the off-grid households within their living area. The leasing price will be around VND 100,000 – 120,000/months/lamp. So after 6 months paying the leasing fee (total around VND 720,000), the lamp will become the asset of the off-grid household. The local woman will responsible to collect the leasing fee every month and will get the premium around VND 100,000 – 120,000/lamp as their income. That mean with 50 initial Mobiya solar lamps for leasing, the woman can have monthly additional income around VND 1mil. And after 6 months, she can use the collecting money to buy others 50 lamps to lease to other off-grid households and continues get the monthly income.
• With the proposed plan, SE has used 2 lamps to training for the first 3 women, 10 lamps as a reservation for warranty purpose, and divide the remain 150 lamps to the 3 women (50 lamps/woman) to bring to their commune to leasing. They expected that after 6 months, there will be more 3 women can join the entrepreneurship plan, and more 150 off-grid household can access to the energy. SE will monthly do monitoring and evaluating the status of the project.
• The project was started from 3 Communes of Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province: An Hao (3,389 households), Vinh Trung (2,336 households) and Tan Loi (2,528 households), with these demographic information: 30% of population are woman; 80% of population are Khmer; Per capita income is VND 11 million/year; and Energy cost for lighting purpose is around VND 40,000 – VND 60,000/month/household.

Inspiration

The innovation helps empower local women and makes sure the 162 initial Mobiya solar lamps are shared to others off-grid households.

Overall impact

Today, there are approximate 2 million of Vietnamese population (2 percent) still cannot access to electricity, and all are in rural area. (World Energy Outlook, 2016).

This population accounts for around 427,000 households in Vietnam, of which a quarter are living in Mekong Delta Area. An Giang Province, which still have 10,000 off-grid households, is located to the west of the Mekong Delta between the Tien and Hau rivers and shares a 100km border with Cambodia in the North - West. It also shares border with Dong Thap Province in the East, Can Tho City in the South - East, and Kien Giang Province in the South – West.

In December 2016, Schneider Electric Vietnam has provided Mobiya solar lamps to 150 Khmer households in Tan Loi, An Hao and Vinh Trung Commune of Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province, around 2,300 families in the district are currently living off-grid and having no sustainable sources of income. From 162 initials donated solar lamps, Mariem Kellou, Social Responsible Manager of SE’s East Asia and Japan, the program owner, believed that the Mobiya solar lamps will be distributed to every household in these communes via a sustainable entrepreneurship plan called “Light it up and Woman Empowerment”. Although in June 2015, SE, in partnership with EPVN (Enfance Partneriat Vietnam) and the local Red Cross Union, have already conducted a similar project called “Bring the Light to Ta Phin” which donated Mobiya solar lamps to 350 families from the Red Dao ethnic minorities in Ta Phin, a village of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

But according to Ms. Kellou the currently project is more innovative, more sustainable and can be duplicated to others off-grid and poverty area of Vietnam by the commitment of SE Vietnam to keep donating around 162 Mobiya Solar Lamps or more (with the support of their large business partners network in Vietnam and others NGOs) year on year.

Business benefit

The benefits of the project for Schneider Electric are helping them to address the BOP market, diversifying their customers and business partners, engaging their employees. These are their long-term investment that help to build positive brand image, get the international recognition and have good relationships with public authorities.

Social and environmental benefit

The project, with a sustainable innovation, provides better life for the beneficiaries. First, it helps the off-grid peoples can access to the safe, reliable, sustainable, efficient, and digitally connected power with the minimize cost. Second, it helps create a stable additional income for local peoples, especially the woman, and contribute to the development of community. The project has also made the SE’s employees proud about their company and contribute more to their country by spreading more innovative idea. Last but not least the project has a positive impact to the governments because its bring the best solutions for their people and their country environmental.

Interview

Meriem Kellou, Social Responsibility Manager, Schneider Electric East Asia & Japan

Watch video on YouTube