The Global LEAP Solar E-Waste Challenge will make up to $1.2 million in grant funding available to support the research and development of more sustainable solar home system and battery technologies for the off-grid solar sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Innovations should extend product and/or component lifespan; enhance product repairability and recyclability; facilitate refurbishment, reuse or repurposing; or reduce rare metal and hazardous material composition.
The Challenge is an initiative of the Efficiency for Access Coalition supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.K. Department for International Development as part of their commitment to the Scaling Off-Grid Energy (SOGE) Grand Challenge for Development
The objective of the Challenge is to promote sustainable solar e-waste management by supporting research and development (R&D) to achieve one or more of the following aims:
- Extend product and/or component lifespan
- Enhance product repairability and recyclability
- Facilitate more efficient refurbishment, reuse or repurposing
- Reduce rare metal and hazardous material composition
The Challenge’s scope includes solar home systems (SHS) and battery technologies with solar home system applications. Research and development can target hardware, software or both.
Funding Information
The Challenge will allocate up to $1,200,000 from USAID to fund a portfolio of projects to be implemented over the course of eighteen months. Individual awards will range from $50,000-$300,000.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations
- The Lead participant in the Challenge is open to either:
- Off-grid solar company (“Solar Companies”) supplying the market across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Battery supplier or other component/technology service provider directly supporting the offgrid solar sector across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Joint proposals by two or more Participants are welcome. Participants may also submit proposals that include individual consultants, non-profit organizations, academics and industry associations as supporting partners. In all such instances, a single Participant must serve as the lead applicant.
Use of Funds
Grants are intended to support the following:
- Operational Costs: Staff time or consultants and other operational costs necessary for the planning, design, development and testing of the product, component or software. Note that testing can include early stage piloting.
- Capital Costs: Rent or purchase of materials and equipment required to design, develop and test the product, component or software. Note that this does not include purchase of commercial property, facilities or vehicles.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges (“Judges”), and will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Relevance to program objectives: The Judges will assess the degree to which the project aligns with the Challenge’s objective as listed above.
- Viability: The Judges will assess whether the proposed activities are realistic and achievable. This will include an evaluation of the overall project plan, proposed timeline and budget as well as other implementation risks such as whether relationships with key implementation partners already exist or not, regulatory risk, etc.
- Potential impacts/external validity: The Judges will assess the potential for projects to achieve long-term positive environmental, commercial, and/or consumer benefits beyond the life of the grant itself. Proposed innovations that benefit the industry as a whole (as opposed to benefitting a single company within the sector) are highly encouraged.
- Budget effectiveness: Cost sharing by the applicant is not required but encouraged. Budgets should be reasonable and demonstrate value for money.
- Capacity of applicant: The Judges will assess the capacity of the Participant(s) to deliver the project based on prior experience and organizational capacity. This will include an assessment of capacity to comply with reporting requirements during project implementation.
How to Apply
Proposals should be submitted online via given website.
For more information, please visit Solar E-Waste Challenge.