Leaping Forward: Global LEAP Expands into Two New, Innovative Off-Grid Appliance Programs

Leveraging the success of the inaugural competition, CLASP and partners announced several new developments for the Global LEAP Awards.

The global off-grid clean energy services market is growing rapidly, with technologies such as portable solar lanterns and solar home systems leading the way. One recent analysis projects that the off-grid market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 26% through 2030. The end-use products – the lights and appliances – that are used with these off-grid energy systems are an essential piece of the market’s development.

CLASP serves as the Operating Agent for the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards, a program that catalyzes off-grid appliance markets and increases energy access. In May 2014, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest J. Moniz named the winners of the inaugural Global LEAP Awards competition, which identified and continues promoting the world’s best, most energy-efficient off-grid color televisions and LED room lighting appliances.

Leveraging the success of the inaugural competition, CLASP and partners announced, at a recent Global LEAP off-grid appliance networking event in Dhaka, Bangladesh, several new developments for the Global LEAP Awards.

First, Global LEAP is launching two new rounds of Global LEAP Awards for high-quality, super-energy-efficient, and affordable fans and televisions, with winners and finalists to be announced in 2016 and 2017.

Additionally, and in partnership with Energising Development, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the International Finance Corporation, Global LEAP is launching an innovative market acceleration program, providing results-based financing incentives to support off-grid solar companies in making bulk purchases of off-grid appliances that have named Global LEAP Awards winner or finalist. By helping to make these high-quality, highly energy-efficient appliances more accessible to off-grid consumers, the program will improve access to clean energy services and strengthen off-grid renewable energy markets. Read more about the program.

Finally, and in collaboration with the ClimateWorks Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy, another new Global LEAP program will provide critical information about off-grid appliance quality and performance to market stakeholders by creating a new, easy to use online database to aggregate and share information about off-grid appliance design, performance, and market availability. For the first time, market stakeholders will have essential market information to evaluate and compare product performance and make faster, smarter business and policy decisions regarding off-grid appliances.

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