Welcome to Green Energies
Green Energies, LLC is a hybrid—like many of today’s new energy solutions.
It began in 2005 as a small effort to help a rural village in Tanzania light its dirt paths and homes at night. Until the arrival of the “Taa Bora,” Green Energies’ signature and easily-built solar flashlight, residents of Kambi ya Simba relied on kerosene lanterns, or simply went without light.
Two years later, Kambi ya Simba has its own solar center—a micro-factory—where a small team produces and sells the Taa Bora and other solar products locally and in the region. One flashlight at a time, they are replacing kerosene with solar energy, saving villagers’ money and health.
As word of the project and the Taa Bora spread, solar entrepreneurs in the U.S. started contacting Green Energies with their own requests for supplies and technical advice. In 2006, we launched an online store.
Our work then took an unexpected turn. First one school, then another, approached Green Energies with the idea of having students construct Taa Bora lights as a service-learning project. From the perspective of educators, it was a perfect fit: students learned about solar energy and the developing world, they got hands-on experience building the lights, and they connected with students in Tanzania, whose schools and lives could not be more different.
In the 21st century global environment, caring for the planet and alternative energy are joining hands. By unleashing solar and human power from the ground up, whether in East Africa or Colorado, Green Energies aims to be part of this critical movement.
Tony Cervone
President
“In the developed world, energy and electricity flow like water. Here, they are precious. Our eyes and lives are accustomed to darkness.”
- Jacob Dallan, age 65,
Kambi ya Simba, Tanzania
“Seen from space, Africa at night is unlit—as dark as all-but empty Siberia. With nearly 1 billion people, Africa accounts for over a sixth of the world's population, but generates only 4% of global electricity.”
“The ‘energy poor” in Africa spend about $17 billion a year on fuel-based lighting sources, such as kerosene lamps, that are costly, inefficient, and provide poor quality light while polluting and posing fire hazards.”
For more facts, see
www.lightingafrica.org