Lydia Owour has created her niche selling solar lamps to households without electricity supply and residents in rural areas of Nyanza.
Lydia Owour lifts the boot of her car for the customer who is curious to see the products she is selling in the streets of Kisumu.
In the car are a set of boxes with solar powered lamps of different kinds for sale. She opens them carefully to show her clients. She has mobile LED solar rechargeable light and three home solar systems.
“I sell Sunking and Delight solar lamps, high quality products certified by Kebs. Unfortunately, the market is flooded with counterfeit solar lamps,” says Ms Owuor.
Ms Owuor was introduced to the clean energy enterprise in February 2016 by a friend.
“An old friend paid me a visit and told me about a training on clean energy organised by Practical Action under the WEE-K project. I learned about the many advantages of solar lamps compared to kerosene,” says the 55-year- old entrepreneur.
Solar lighting improves health by reducing the risk of fire, lung damage, eye strain and eliminates toxic from kerosene.
“One incurs cost when you buy kerosene lamps. However with solar lamps you just expose the solar panel to the sun to recharge. There you don’t incur any cost at all,” she adds.
Encouraged, Ms Owour bought 10 solar lamp units worth Sh10,000 from her savings to begin her enterprise.
“I got so excited by the project and I quickly sold off the 10 units. I turned my car into a shop to distribute and exhibit different solar products,” says the mother of three.
“After listening to the success stories of women involved in running clean energy enterprises, I got really interested in starting my own.”
Ms Owuor has created her niche selling solar lamps to households without electricity supply and residents in rural areas. She gets SunKing and Delight solar lamps from suppliers in Kisumu and sells in Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Siaya counties.
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