MANILA, Philippines - Social enterprise MyShelter Foundation’s Liter of Light has won the seventh edition of the Zayed Future Energy Prize today in the non-profit organization category.
The world’s biggest award for renewable energy and sustainability honored the organization for its innovative lighting solution that addresses the combined challenge of climate change, energy security, and the environment.
The Liter of Light empowers communities by training locals on how to manufacture and install solar lights, creating hundreds of job opportunities for sectors not commonly involved with energy, such as rural women’s cooperatives, youth groups, and refugee camps.
“Ours is a story about the power of harnessing open source technologies and sharing them with young people around the world who are keen to solve energy poverty in their own communities,” said Illac Diaz, founder and executive director of the Liter of Light.
“Sometimes, the solutions that work best come from developing countries, from the bottom up, since they have to manage the greatest impact with the least resources,” he added.
The Zayed Future Energy Prize, established by the United Arab Emirates government in 2008, recognizes organizations, schools, and individuals across the world that have made significant contributions to the future of renewable energy and sustainability.
The winners were selected after a three-month evaluation process that began with an assessment of 1,100 applicants based on their impact, innovation, leadership, and vision.
The Zayed Future Energy Prize jury includes heads of state, leading energy experts and world-renowned personalities committed to the global effort of accelerating the adoption of renewable energies and sustainable development.
The Liter of Light is both a day and night solution that provides passive daylight as well as charged evening solar lights such as lanterns, house lights, and streetlights through local skills-building and sourcing electronic parts for building the products instead of merely retailing imported, finished products.