The globally operating company d.light is making the lives of millions of people brighter by supplying rural communities with clean, affordable energy. Its goal is to reach one billion people by 2030. 

The background: In Africa alone, around 600 million people do not have reliable access to electricity. This particularly affects rural regions. While more than 80 percent of urban residents use electricity, 70 percent of the population in remote areas must cope without power. As a consequence, millions of people rely on burning carbon-intensive kerosene in lamps and stoves or operating diesel generators for lighting and cooking. This harms not only the environment but also human health. 

The Mission: Clean Energy for All

In 2004, Sam Goldman—later co-founder of d.light—witnessed a tragic accident while serving as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Benin, Africa: the son of a neighbor suffered severe burns when a petroleum lamp tipped over. This experience motivated him to develop solutions to provide low-income households in developing countries with affordable, safe, and sustainable electricity. Goldman enrolled in the course “Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability” at the Stanford Design School, where he met Nedjip Tozun. Together, they developed their first prototype of a solar lantern and soon thereafter founded the company d.light. 

Today, d.light manufactures and sells solar home systems and devices to customers in Africa and India. Through partnerships, its products are also distributed in 70 additional countries. Thanks to d.light, people can now not only turn on lights, but also watch television, listen to the radio, and charge their mobile phones—all powered by renewable solar energy and at a significantly lower cost than comparable grid-connected devices. Since many people in the target regions lack access to financial service providers, d.light uses a flexible pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model offered via mobile payment providers, making services affordable and accessible to everyone. 

Award-Winning Development Aid, Climate Action in Practice

Based on its product sales, d.light measures CO₂ savings compared to kerosene-based lighting and cooking stoves. Since 2007, this has resulted in the avoidance of 38 million tons of CO₂ emissions and an estimated two million tons of soot and fine particulate matter. This makes d.light a leading pioneer in the field of off-grid clean solar energy. Its commitment has received global recognition: the company has been awarded numerous prizes and honors. In 2024, it was also among the finalists for the Earthshot Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious and influential environmental awards.

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