At Nokero, we are constantly working to hold ourselves to the lessons we learn from children. “Keep it simple” is one of our core values, and it touches everything we do, from designing new products to making new friends.

Today, we’re unveiling the Nokero Ed, a small solar light with a big mission: to change the lives of kids around the world who live without electricity. At the same time, we’re launching a friendship with ChildFund International, an organization with the drive and the know-how to help us get these little lights into the hands of children around the globe who need them. Our friendship is simple: we want the same things, and we each have something to bring to the relationship.

It all began with an innovation. Steve Katsaros, Nokero’s founder and chief inventor, was visiting Kenya late last summer, and was inspired by the children he met. They were enthusiastic to learn, eager for knowledge and excited by everything new. In each village, he handed out a few solar lights and asked for their feedback. But it wasn’t necessarily their words that made the most impact. It was the groups of kids crowding around each light to read and do their homework after dark. Sometimes two or three at once, but more often five or six, or ten, or more. It was uplifting and heartbreaking all at once. There was never enough light to go around.

When considered next to the daily, and oftentimes enervating cost of kerosene fuel, solar light is clearly the economical choice. Yet even a modest upfront cost holds many families back from making the switch from toxic kerosene lamps to clean, safe and healthy solar light. So Steve set out on a mission: design for extreme affordability. Keep it simple. Remove the bells and whistles. Make a solar light that could help kids learn and would be economical enough for more families to afford. Once we had the prototype in hand, we knew we had a powerful difference-maker for children around the world. But we needed to reach them.

And this is where ChildFund comes into the story. As serendipity would have it, we saw a ChildFund billboard while standing at a bus stop in Washington, D.C. The public service ad simply stated their mission: ChildFund is dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children worldwide—and that is exactly what we were looking for. It really is the perfect friendship. We bring the technology; they help deploy it to the communities who need it most. ChildFund programs serve more than 13.5 million children in 31 countries around the world. The majority of those children either live in unelectrified communities, or their families cannot afford electrical power.

So now we’re working together to bring sustainable and nontoxic solar light to the millions of children around the world living without access to electricity. Together, we are illuminating lives. Funds raised through the Global Light to Learn Challenge will support ChildFund in bringing clean, healthy Nokero solar lights to schools in unelectrified communities. Students will be able to study and read after dark, by checking out a light each night (just as they would a library book). The lights will also be used in classrooms to teach students about science, technology, renewable energy and the power of the sun.

An innovative partnership? Definitely. A collaborative alliance? Sure. But at its core, simply a great friendship between two organizations that can now achieve more together than they ever could alone. Together, we are coloring the world brighter, and drawing little suns and smiley faces all over the place.

Six months ago, in support of the United Nations and the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, Nokero made a pledge to tackle energy poverty in our own backyard.  This is our commitment:

“Energy poverty is not often considered a problem affecting the developed world, yet in truth, tens of thousands of Americans live without access to electricity. In the Navajo Nation alone, 18,000 families live off-the-grid. Forward-thinking Navajo leaders have initiated a campaign to bring renewable energy to their community, though much work remains. In support of their efforts, and the UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, Nokero International commits to working in partnership with Navajo tribal leaders and Eagle Energy, a sustainable energy non-profit, to provide universal access to solar energy in the Navajo Nation. Beginning today, and for as long as it takes, Nokero will direct its resources toward tackling this challenge – working with Eagle Energy and Navajo partners to build sustainable distribution systems which ensure that all people of the Navajo Nation have access to affordable, durable, high-quality solar-powered lights, mobile chargers, and other green technologies.”

 In a fifteen-minute short film, director and producer Chris Fauchere beautifully illustrates this challenge, and opens our eyes to the issue of energy poverty here in the United States.

Lighting the Way may not star George Clooney, or provide as many laughs as Bridesmaids, but on the up side, it has dialogue. Even better, in a world where global challenges often seem insurmountable, Lighting the Way provides viewers with an opportunity to participate in the solution.

If you want to get a head start, please visit http://www.nokero.com/givelight and help Nokero, Eagle Energy and our Navajo colleagues bring clean, safe, and affordable energy solutions to communities living without access to electricity.

Lighting the Way will be showing as part of the Health and Environmental Film Series at 1:30pm on Sunday March 25th.  If you’re in the DC area, please join us at the Carnegie Institution for Science at 1530 P St NW.  Admission is free! You can find more information here.

“On December 17, 2011, residents of the provinces of Cagayan De Oro and Iligan in Mindanao, Philippines were awakened from their sleep by the sound of rushing water. Within minutes, raging muds rose more than 12 feet, carrying logs and rocks and taking everything in its path.

The morning came filled with horror. Thousands of people missing or dead and covered with mud. Vast spaces that used to contain whole towns were wiped out.

Three weeks after, the survivors find themselves in tent cities, trying to recover from the devastation.

Two girls at the tent site try out their new Nokero bulbs.

Team Energy Foundation Inc, in partnership with Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc, One Million Lights, Solutions Using Renewable Energy Inc, and Sasonbisolar Inc., cooperated to provide the evacuees with simple comforts and necessities to make temporary tent life more bearable. To complement the tent kits provided by Disaster Aid International, the group gave out 600 Nokero Solar Bulbs to provide working lights to the tents at night.

The recipients were ecstatic, to say the least, when we turned off the lights at the Church where we distributed the solar bulbs and turned on the single bulb that I was demonstrating for them. The children were in high spirits as they tried to jump and reach at the light that I was showing to my audience. We are happy that somehow, the Nokero solar bulbs gave them some comfort during this trying times in their lives.”

Delas Alas family of Tent 32 at the Indahag Site in Cagayan de Oro with Claire MY Lee at the very right.

Thank you to Claire for sharing her story of helping those who have suffered from this devastating typhoon. Our thoughts go out to the people of the Philippines.

That’s why we’re proud to be working with a group called “One Media Player Per Teacher” (OMPT) which works to enhance education around the globe with the use of modern A/V technology.

Video Instruction Goes Off-the-Grid in Orissa, India w/ One Media Player per Teacher (OMPT) from Jim Mikles on Vimeo.

With a need for powering their devices in off-grid locations, OMPT found Nokero products to be just the ticket. Here’s a note from the field from Executive Director Matt York.

“Here at OMPT, our most  innovative intervention for development  projects  is using small pico projectors to deliver videos. We focus on serving populations where there are conditions of poverty and limited access to power.

Matt York
Executive Director
www.ompt.org

It feels like Nokero was just a brand-new babe when we first met Leah Quintal, Kurt Mann and the folks at American Green … and I guess we were. Our N200 was just coming out into the world. Wide-eyed and full of hope, we put everything we had into this small little solar package and hoped for the best.

Leah and Kurt were among the first to realize the power of our small-scale, portable, and durable light. They took our N200 bulb into Haiti to see what it could do – and they were the first to show us how powerful our little solar light bulb can be. Through the magic of Kurt’s video and Leah’s compassion, the people we were helping were able to tell us their story, tell us what a comfort and a relief it was to have a reliable, renewable source of light in an otherwise dark night. It became clear that delivering Nokero to those in need is more than just a goal – it’s a moral imperative.

Now American Green is taking it to another level. Leah recently gave an inspiring presentation at TedX in Asheville, North Carolina … above is the YouTube video, and below is the original transcript from her presentation (in case you can’t view YouTube where you are).

Stay tuned, because Leah isn’t the only one who has become part of the ever-growing community of people who are helping tell our story. Our mutual friends at Earthspark International, who are also helping bring solar and renewable energy to Haiti, recently presented at a different TedX (stay tuned to this blog, our FB page, and twitter feed and we’ll let you know when that video is ready).

To Leah, Kurt, American Green, Earthspark, and everyone who has heard our call and is carrying the message forward – Thank You.

Leah Qunital’s TedX Presentation Transcript:

I)

I was hesitant to go to Haiti. Not for the reasons my mother had–she was worried about Cholera and Malaria and about other physical dangers–about the political unrest at the time. And then she saw the UN sanctioned foreign travel ban to Haiti.

I was hesitant because I was unqualified. I don’t speak French or Creole, and have no medical skills-which is what I thought people really needed. But more so I was hesitant because I desperately wanted to do the ‘right thing’ without knowing what that was.  At that time there was a lot of criticism surrounding non-profits and different organizations working in Haiti—Where were the millions of dollars going if Haiti still looked the same a year after the earthquake?

I didn’t want to become part of what was being called the misguided effort to do good. But sometimes it’s really hard to tell which efforts are good. We’re fortunate here in Asheville to have a very warm-hearted and generous community, but we can be misguided too. Last summer was the BP Oil Spill. On the weekends every park in Asheville was filled with people cutting their hair, chopping off their dreads, and shaving their dogs to send hair to Gulf and soak up the oil. That kind of action wasn’t bad….it just wasn’t that effective.

II)

So with questions in mind–how to do good and be useful and productive–I went to Haiti last January with Kurt Mann, filmmaker and founder of American Green International.

We decided to test out how alternative sustainable technologies might improve conditions. We looked at solar food cookers, we considered composting toilets, and we brought 200 Nokero Solar Light Bulbs.

During our trial period, it became evident very quickly that these solar light bulbs were the ‘right’ kind of aid we were looking for. Excited and Inspired we created a short video documenting our initial efforts.

[VIDEO: View here]

Stunning, right. Brilliant–literally. Just so simple. A little bit of light—and that was GOOD.

And each solar bulb is a bridge to the real person whose life it changes. That’s a lot of stories.

A Hatian vendor saw an immediate increase in business after he begain using Nokero N200 solar light bulbs.

We met this man selling goods under an umbrella on the edge of a tent city. We gave him 2 solar lights and he was very pleased. Now he could do business longer and better support his large family. He has 5 kids to feed.

In the video you saw a group of boys painting under solar lights. They live at New Life Orphanage, and each of these kids has survived disaster and unimaginable hardship. But there is so much hope. We gave all the kids solar light bulbs with their names on them. Each morning before breakfast the kids hand their bulbs up on a clothes line to collect solar energy during the day. Then, after dinner the kids all pick up light bulbs and take it to their dorms. Before there was little they could do after 6pm—there’s no electricity in the dorms. Now they can paint, they can read—work on homework, or simply hold conversations where they can see one another. These kids know they are the future of Haiti. One boy personally thanked us, saying he would use this light to study harder and longer so that one day he could be the winner in life.

But this orphanage is protected–by thick walls and armed guards.

Outside the walls and deeper into the tent cities there is no protection. there’s not even light. Over half a million people still live in tent cities, and every night is a gamble with your life.

Over half of women and girls living in tent cities have been sexually assaulted or raped.

A year after the earthquake the Guardian printed an article calling the situation a rape epidemic.

I think all women have experienced a time–maybe walking home late at night where we feel vulnerable and scared–like something could happen. In Haiti–in the darkness of the tent cities it’s more likely something will happen.

At some point you will be assaulted. And this is happening to children under 10.

There’s no way for a community to more forward when over ½ it’s population is living in constant fear.

That’s why we’ve partnered with local an international women’s rights organizations to distribute a 1000 solar light bulbs to women surviving in these tent cities.

You have to start somewhere. First you need light. It’s in our deepest mythology-right there in Genesis. And once you have that you can see what’s going on. You can take a look at other things.

You realize the solar light bulb is more than a gift, it’s a TOOL & an alternative to kerosene. Over a billion people worldwide rely on kerosene for lighting. Kerosene is dangerous and extremely toxic–constant exposure to the fumes is the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, it’s also expensive a non-renewable–making it a significant monthly expense for those who can afford it.

Nokero solar light bulbs can replace kerosene lamps. They provide clean, safe light replenished daily by the sun. W/o the expense of kerosene, think of what that money could do for these families. It’s medicine, food, and education. And it’s a reinvestment in the community.

We met another woman named Andremas. She had two daughters, but she seemed like everyone’s mother. She was kind, generous, and self-less. We have her and her two daughters solar light bulbs. Several days later we came back at night to see how Andremas was liking the solar bulbs. There was a new girl at the house. She was reading in a chair under the light of the solar bulb. Turns out she was a neighbor from a very poor family and couldn’t afford to go to school. Andremas was going to sponsor her education with the money she was saving now that she no longer needed to buy kerosene.

A young girl in a tent city in Haiti plays with her new Nokero solar lights.

So what is the power of simple light? It’s a shop open later, it’s getting to and from that shop safely, it’s reading, it’s studying, it’s you first night of homework. It’s opportunity.

We’re not solving the world’s problems. But we’re providing light where it was dark before.

And when you provide light–you see the faces of others and they see your face. And maybe you connect, and maybe you begin to empathize. THEN we can See what’s next.

Thank you.

Linkin Park with Nokero N200 bulbs

The fact that over 1.3 billion people worldwide live without access to electricity has inspired Grammy Award-winning rock band Linkin Park to launch a solar lighting campaign in support of the United Nations’ 2012 Year of Sustainable Energy.

Linkin Park is asking supporters to donate $10 at Power the World to give a renewable, clean, solar light bulb, made by Nokero, to families without access to electricity in Haiti.

Power the World is a pledge to help 1 million families gain access to sustainable energy solutions by the end of 2012. Last month, Linkin Park pledged their support of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s Sustainable Energy For All Initiative. The band and their non-profit organization Music for Relief, which has raised over $5 million for victims of multiple disasters across four continents, have partnered with the UN foundation and Earthspark International to bring clean energy solutions to families without access to electricity, starting in Haiti.

“We chose Haiti for this project because the country faces severe energy poverty,” says lead vocalist of Linkin Park Mike Shinoda. “There are 34 million people in the Western Hemisphere who have no access to modern energy; 8 million of them are in Haiti. By helping Haiti we can make a huge impact, so it’s a great place to start.”

Earthspark International is a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) partner creating supply chains and business practices to support small-scale clean energy entrepreneurs in Haiti. The organization chose Nokero N200s to be distributed in Haiti because they are safe, affordable, and environmentally-friendly solar solutions. Earthspark International has re-branded Nokero N200 bulbs as “Eneji Pwop,” meaning “clean energy” in Haitian Creole.

This holiday season, Linkin Park is asking you to give the gift of light by donating a Nokero N200 Eneji Pwop to Haitian families in need. Without access to electricity, people have to use expensive and dangerous kerosene or candles leading to over one million of deaths each year due to fire and pulmonary disease.

By having fans share the message with friends and family, Linkin Park hopes that governments, large companies, and non-governmental organizations will take action to make an enormous impact on solving this energy-poverty problem.

Together, we can be part of the solution. As Linkin Park lead guitarist Brad Delson says, “You can help us empower the planet and power the world by joining us at PowertheWorld.org.”

A poster from Earthspark's Piri Piti Plen Kay Moden campaign. The Nokero N200 has been re-branded as the "Eneji Pwop" bulb and colored orange by Earthspark.

What is very small, fills a house, and is modern?

Earthspark International, a social enterprise working to eradicate energy poverty in Haiti, has just received a shipment of Nokero N200 solar light bulbs. Earthspark has branded the Nokero N200s as part of their Haitian “Enèji Pwòp” (“Clean Energy”) brand for small-scale clean energy products.

Allison Archambault of Earthspark tells us that in Haiti, storytellers often tell riddles before telling a story. A common riddle asked by storytellers, “Piti piti, plen kay? (Very small, fills a house?)” is answered by listeners, “Lanp! (Lamp!).”

Now that Nokero N200s have arrived in Haiti, Allison told us that the Enèji Pwòp team has created a spin-off of this popular riddle. “Piti piti plen kay moden? (Very small, fills a house, is modern?)” People respond, “Lanp Enèji Pwòp! (Enèji Pwòp lamp!).”

Haitians who have tried them love the Nokero N200 Enèji Pwòp lamps. They are the most affordable Enèji Pwòp solar product yet. While a typical Haitian family spends 200 gourdes on a kerosene lamp, they also have to purchase kerosene at 10 gourdes/night to use it. The Nokero N200 Enèji Pwòp lamp costs 500 gourdes to buy and requires only sunlight to recharge the battery. This means that after one month of use, a Nokero N200 Enèji Pwòp lamp pays for itself. By using a Nokero N200 Enèji Pwòp lamp, Haitian families are able to save huge amounts of their household budgets, receive better lighting, and reduce their exposure to dangerous kerosene smoke and fire hazard.

So now you can give people a riddle, “What can save families money, give them more hours of activity each day, and reduce health risks?”

Earthspark Enèji Pwòp solar bulbs will be on the market in Haiti on Monday. Thank you to the Earthspark Enèji Pwòp team for working hard to deliver Nokero to Haitian families who need it!

Nokero solar light bulbs are part of the elite ShelterBox response kit being deployed to earthquake victims in Turkey. (photo by Mark Pearson)

In response to the earthquakes in Van, Turkey, Nokero solar light bulbs are included as a lifesaving item being delivered as part of the Shelterbox disaster relief effort. Just over three weeks ago, millions of people lost power when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey on October 23 and again when two weeks later, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake aftershock struck near the city of Van.

With little access to candles or flashlights, earthquake victims are receiving five Nokero solar light bulbs as part of each relief kit from Shelterbox, the internationally-renowned disaster relief organization.

“Nokero solar lights were chosen to be part of the elite ShelterBox response kit after rigorous study and research by the ShelterBox team,” said ShelterBox Head of Operations John Leach. “This is their first deployment in the field, and so far they are performing admirably.”

Unfortunately, like other disaster relief teams in Turkey, a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) was on site—delivering insulated tents, Nokero solar light bulbs and other lifesaving supplies to earthquake victims—when the magnitude 5.6 aftershock struck.

“We were in Van when we felt violent shaking and saw people running out of buildings,” said Ron Noseworthy of ShelterBox. “Many buildings collapsed, including a six-story hotel. We received a request for help from emergency responders to provide ShelterBox tents for the search and rescue teams to allow them to rest as they work in shifts to try and save those trapped in collapsed buildings.”

Listen to a personal account of the moment the earthquake struck here.

Thank you to ShelterBox for distributing Nokero solar light bulbs to those in need after this devastating earthquake. For Nokero, this represents a giant leap forward in our effort to bring renewable energy to the people who need it most.

Happy Holidays from Nokero! Buy 6 bulbs for less than $100 (+shipping) and 3 bulbs for less than $55 (+shipping).

OK, we’ve heard from our customers how much you like Nokero as a holiday gift – and why not? Nokero solar technology is a way to be green without spending too much money – and our N200 bulbs make the perfect stocking stuffer.

With that in mind, we’ve launched a holiday giving program to help brighten the winter season.

We want to encourage you to GIVE Nokero solar lights, and BUY them for yourself and your loved ones as well.

So, here’s how it works:

• USA customers can have their N200 orders delivered within 3-5 business days.
• Purchases of 3 or more N200s receive $3 off each bulb
• Purchases of 6 or more N200s receive $5 off each bulb

Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and tennis phenom Andre Agassi are among those on the world-renown Zayed Future Energy Prize Jury.

Hundreds of people, companies, and organizations from more than 70 countries applied, but now the Zayed Future Energy Prize has been whittled down to an elite list of possible winners for one of the most prestigious environmental award on the planet.

Nokero International is among 25 applicants who have made the initial cut for the Zayed’s new SME and NGO’s category, joining a total of 62 people, corporations, small businesses and NGOs that are being considered for the award.

The review and selection committees are filled with luminaries from the world’s most prestigious institutions, and the jury itself includes people as well-known as Leonardo DiCaprio, Andre Agassi, and Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. Joining them are heads of state, leaders in policy and industry from around the world.

Only candidates nominated by a third party are eligible, so we were honored in the highest to be nominated for the award again this year, and very happy to see that the new format of the awards gives new opportunity to small companies like ourselves. Our special form of renewable energy technologies is helping get us recognized around the globe, by the Zayed committee, and by people in the more than 120 countries and territories where our innovations are being put to good use.

Our hope is that the committees will see that our unique technologies, business model, and company philosophy make us worthy of consideration for the final rounds.

We will keep you posted on our progress, of course, and to learn more you can visit http://www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com/

About the Zayed Future Energy Prize

From www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com: “The Zayed Future Energy Prize represents the vision of the Late Founding Father and President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, who championed environmental stewardship. This annual award celebrates achievements that reflect impact innovation, long-term vision and leadership in renewable energy and sustainability. We invite you to be a part of this vision and our commitment to finding solutions that will meet the challenges of climate change, energy security and the environment.”