Worldwide,1.5 billion people lack access to electricity, and 750 million have no clean water. These groups often overlap, leaving hundreds of millions of individuals without life’s most basic necessities such as light at night, medical equipment, and safe drinking water. There are technologies capable of remedying these issues, but none are simple nor affordable enough to create widespread impact. Solar panels are simply too expensive, and clean water products frequently fail because they are not user friendly.

Families without electricity often spend 10-20% of their income just on kerosene gas for light at night, which is dangerous and provides inadequate light for adults to work and children to study by. Solar energy is a proven solution for alleviating energy poverty in the developing world, but it is often still too expensive for poor, rural consumers. Furthermore, solar panel rotators (called trackers) are virtually never used in remote, off-grid settings due to their high cost and tendency to malfunction. Instead, solar panels are fixed in place and generate as much as 40% less electricity than they are capable of.

Of the 750 million individuals who lack access to clean water, 100 million live in India alone. These individuals suffer chronic exposure to waterborne illnesses, and hundreds of millions more must walk hours each day to collect potable water. Existing water purification technology is highly effective at preventing the transmission of waterborne pathogens, but the majority of clean water programs still fail due to improper operation by end users. Standalone water products are only 6% to 27% effective at reducing diarrhea. There is a dire need for products and approaches which improve user behavior and uptake of these clean water technologies.

That's where the SunSaluter comes in. The SunSaluter is a simple device which boosts solar panel efficiency and integrates energy and water collection into one easy routine which improves consistent usage of the water purifier. Find out how it works here!