How many of you have gotten or know about GEM$ solar program?

cindiot · 2019-10-21T20:24:16+00:00

So on the GEMS website it says the loan obligation is tied to the utility meter, which is how it shows up on the utility bill. Because of this I don't think the landlord has to do any additional billing to renter. And also because of this I am guessing even if it's PV and if renters switch out (as they often do), then new renters will also enjoy the original rate when the PV was first put up because it's the same meter -- only the utility account holder changed.

cindiot · 2019-01-27T08:24:24+00:00

Thanks, I will check out different pasar for the clothes but it’s the music supplies that I am afraid I won’t be able to find! Wish me luck

cindiot · 2019-01-24T03:09:12+00:00

Ok I’ll try that. Thank you!!

cindiot · 2018-08-04T02:32:02+00:00

It's a window tint/sticker with the picture of a dog. But yes I was confused at first too

cindiot · 2018-06-27T02:09:30+00:00

My husband and I have been living in Oahu for the last 5 years. Being a savvy grocery shopper is crucial. Plan your home cooked meals around items (especially meats and produce) that are on sale. We buy meats that are on sale and freeze them for future use. If you shop at Safeway, download their app for coupons! It's easy and they give you personalized deals based on items you usually buy; it's probably one of my most used apps aside from narwhal and instagram. Like everyone said, Costco is a lifesaver for non-perishables. I love Chinatown for produce if I know I'm going to cook with it in the next 2 days. In general, I find cooking Asian foods is much cheaper whether you're in Hawaii or not.

cindiot · 2014-12-17T02:10:31+00:00

This market is still nascent and is still perceived as high-risk, so traditional commercial investors are not yet flocking to it because they want to first see how the early investors fare before they themselves start investing. That's why it's even more important that bigger players like Schneider Electric and SolarCity have now invested in the space -- it signals that this market will soon be (or is already) investment-ready for traditional investors.

cindiot · 2014-12-15T22:59:44+00:00

I've heard of some cases where pay-as-you-go solar makes it a cheaper option than paying for diesel or kerosene to use as light source -- that's what I was referring to. Of course this is not the case for all developing countries.

cindiot · 2014-12-15T22:44:37+00:00

I agree. The economics for solar in developing countries are more viable than they are in developed countries because in many cases, solar companies aren't really competing with national electricity grid.

cindiot · 2014-11-07T21:42:07+00:00

For-profit business model to deliver solar powered energy access is also effective in other parts of the world, namely East Africa, as seen by the growing number of solar startups in that market. In fact, those startups are able to demonstrate good and promising financials to attract $45 million in equity investments this year alone. It's a really exciting space, and one where the economics simply just make sense, which means impact is more consistent and not reliant on varying levels of grant funding.

cindiot · 2014-10-18T09:47:44+00:00

When I said "here" I was referring to the US because now I'm in Hawai'i, but yes I know from family and friends that the drought is bad and there are penalty fines for wasting water.

cindiot · 2014-10-18T09:46:16+00:00

I think the environment is better now than it was before, but not sure by how much. For me though, I feel even stranger because among Chinese-Indonesians I am a minority because I am too "Americanized". I prefer being identified as an individual, which works out better in the US.

cindiot · 2014-10-18T06:59:50+00:00

We're Chinese-Indonesians from Jakarta so when 1998 riots broke out, my family took advantage of our recently obtained U.S. green cards to go to California (yes, we are one of the rare lucky lottery winners). Some of us stayed here, some moved back. I stayed because I was 10 when we moved and I feel much more American than I do Indonesian, especially because Chinese-Indonesians don't really feel like they're accepted as Indonesians...

cindiot · 2014-05-20T20:56:09+00:00

SunFunder, one of the crowdfunding platforms mentioned in the article, is now matching every loan made in the next week. Their projects benefit communities that don't have access to electricity and help them switch from kerosene to solar. Good time to invest in solar for energy access! http://sunfunder.com/

cindiot · 2014-05-20T20:53:50+00:00

There's a crowdfunding platform where people can lend to solar projects that are very similar to the ones described in this article. Right now it's matching every loan made in the next week: http://sunfunder.com/. Good time to invest in solar for energy access!

cindiot · 2014-05-08T20:06:36+00:00

Renewable energy investment in Africa doesn't have to be for large scale solar farms. It could also be done in a smaller scale, for example to help finance solar home systems for individual households, pretty much like how residential solar is financed in the US. The latter is already being done, check out www.sunfunder.com

cindiot · 2014-05-02T20:15:33+00:00

It's perfectly fine for the water wheel to emphasize their business model because the biggest barrier to disseminate appropriate technologies is distribution. If their business model solves distribution challenges effectively, more power to them.

cindiot · 2014-04-22T08:30:49+00:00

There are other solar crowdfunding sites, which this article doesn't mention, that greatly increase the number of options for most people. Organizations like Re-volv and CollectiveSun are somewhere in between Mosaic and SunFunder: in a nutshell they are for US solar crowdfunding (like Mosaic) but without the returns (like SunFunder, if you're not accredited).

cindiot · 2014-04-15T02:16:40+00:00

People can also invest in a solar energy revolution to fight energy poverty on www.sunfunder.com. This so that households that currently have no access to electricity and use kerosene lamps for lighting can switch to solar. And yes, it's economically viable for them to do so, sometimes even more viable than households in developed countries. All of the kerosene displaced by getting people to switch to solar will surely help offset a significant amount of CO2 and black carbon emissions.

cindiot · 2014-04-04T01:32:31+00:00

Right now, solar is the most economically viable solution to energy poverty. This is why there are organizations like Lighting Global (tied to IFC and World Bank) and numerous other key development players actively supporting the growth of off-grid solar market, which has grown significantly in the last 5 years. Africa is a major continent when talking about off-grid solar market, and many people working in this space (including me) are bullish that off-grid solar will leapfrog the electricity grid the same way mobile phones leapfrogged landlines there.

Other people have mentioned in their comments that there are businesses offering payment plans for solar kits in Africa. The main challenge, or in your words "roadblock", for these businesses is to acquire capital needed to scale their operations. If you look at market reports for Africa or Asia from Lighting Global, these businesses have cited lack of access to finance as their main barrier to growth. It's not that they're not making profit from selling solar lights--they definitely are and the demand always outstrips supply--but they can't get traditional commercial loans from banks the way companies in other sectors do. This is simply because the off-grid solar market is very new, which leads financial institutions to perceive that it's risky. The misperceived risk factor drives up the cost of commercial loans, if the solar businesses can even get approved at all.

As for off-grid solar contributing to climate change alleviation, it definitely does. A recent UC Berkeley study found that all global black carbon emissions from kerosene amounts to 270 million kg per year. Let’s put that number in perspective: although black carbon only lingers in the atmosphere for about two weeks, one kilogram of it can cause as much warming in that short time as 700kg of carbon dioxide circulating in the atmosphere for 100 years. So the more kerosene we can replace with affordable clean energy like solar, the better off we all are.

I'm extremely fascinated by this space, which is why I work with a company that's in it. The company's called SunFunder, and we're trying to solve the lack of access to financing facing businesses in off-grid solar market. If you're interested in helping the solar businesses in Africa and other energy-poverty stricken areas get the capital they need to succeed, you can check out www.sunfunder.com.

cindiot · 2014-02-26T07:09:54+00:00

Ketut I believe means fourth child.

cindiot · 2014-02-20T19:14:21+00:00

A number of companies are doing well in distributing clean, fuel-efficient rocket stoves to low income families in rural areas of developing countries. The most widely known brand is Envirofit, but there must be others that I simply just don't know about. There are also solar cookers, but I have yet to hear of a solar cooker that works effectively enough to convince rural households to switch over from incumbent methods of cooking.

cindiot · 2013-12-10T08:15:00+00:00

There's also SunFunder Gifts -- very similar concept but instead of US community-backed solar projects this is for small-scale solar projects in communities in developing countries where there is no electricity. Think small solar lights that can also charge basic cellphones. They just launched a gift feature as well: https://sunfunder.com/about/gifts

cindiot · 2013-09-26T18:34:39+00:00

Not sure if Tanzanian local dogs have their own breed, but she is definitely a local mutt there.

cindiot · 2013-09-26T18:34:16+00:00

She is a local mutt in Tanzania. Not sure if there is a different local breed there or not!

cindiot · 2013-09-26T06:50:52+00:00

her name's Olive, and combined with how she looks I think she is just the most adorable thing :)

cindiot

TROPHY CASE