Solar Sisters: How This “Avon Lady” Model Of Solar Distribution Has Taken Off

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Solar Sisters: How This “Avon Lady” Model Of Solar Distribution Has Taken Off

Women are earning side income from the project and spreading solar products in areas where power is lacking, but Solar Sister as an organization still relies mostly on philanthropic support.

Solar Sister is a social business that uses an “Avon Lady”-type model to distribute solar equipment in Africa. It's been operating for more than five years and now works with about 1,500 women entrepreneurs in three countries. The women buy solar lamps, solar phone chargers, and solar panels at cost, then mark up the items at retail, pocketing the difference. Solar Sister provides training and support, helping the saleswomen reach their goals.

As part of our new series checking in on projects we've written about in the past, we spoke with CEO Katherine Lucey. She talked about the challenges the company has faced in that time and how Solar Sister hopes to continue to grow.

Lucey founded the business on the premise that women are the family members most likely to use solar equipment. In Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria, they're the ones who currently buy kerosene for lighting and see that their kids have enough light at night to do homework. After that, it also seemed logical that the best people to sell to women would be other women.

“We thought the way to reach women was for one woman to tell another woman 'I use this at home,'” Lucey says. “She can talk to her cousin, her friend, her sister with real authentic understanding of the benefits. There is a trust there, and a network.”