An international competition that identifies and promotes the world's best, most energy-efficient appliances and equipment intended for use in energy-constrained settings.
Appropriately-designed, highly energy-efficient appliance technologies are essential to accelerating global energy access efforts. Awards programmes provide an important platform to identify new technologies and trends in emerging markets.
The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition that identifies and promotes the world’s best, most energy-efficient appliances and equipment intended for use in energy-constrained settings. The Global LEAP Awards have evolved into a trusted global brand that serves as the de facto source of accurate, actionable information about the quality and energy performance of appliances designed for use with off-grid solar energy systems, mini-grid and areas with inconsistent grid connection.
Since 2014, Global LEAP Awards has run 12 competitions and challenges for high-impact and emerging technologies, most recently for walk-in cold storage units, solar water pumps and electric pressure cookers.
The Global LEAP Awards Induction Cooktops Competition aims to promote the use and showcase the performance of electric induction cooktops, accelerating the global adoption of high-quality clean cooking technologies.
The Off-Grid Cold Chain Challenge is an international competition that identifies and promotes the most energy-efficient, sustainable and cost-effective technologies designed for use by smallholder farmers and producers that can meet cold storage requirements for fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, and dairy products.
The Solar E-Waste Challenge aims to promote sustainable solar e-waste management by identifying and funding innovative approaches to the management of e-waste in the off-grid solar sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
Results-based incentives provide a platform for follow-on and affiliated interventions that accelerate a given award or prize programme's impacts. The Global LEAP results-based financing seeks to catalyse the uptake of high-quality, super-efficient appliances.
The Programme delivers on its objective by:
1) Lowering the cost to procure large volumes of best-in-class off-grid appliances for early mover off-grid solar companies.
2) Facilitating new business partnerships for appliance suppliers that have invested in the production of high-quality off-grid appliances.
Impacts to Date
The Global LEAP+RBF has catalysed the sales of more than 280,000 off-grid refrigerators, TVs, solar water pumps and electric pressure cookers in seven countries, reaching more than 1,289,000 beneficiaries.
A programme to support innovations in off-grid solar e-waste management across sub-Saharan Africa.
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Cooking is essential for human health and productivity, but the market for appropriately designed, energy efficient off- and weak-grid electric pressure cookers remains nascent.
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Refrigeration is essential for human health and productivity, but the market for appropriate and efficient off- and weak-grid refrigerators remains nascent.
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Solar water pumps can increase yields while reducing labor for farmers in developing countries who lack access to electricity, but commercial markets for these pumps are nascent.
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Modern cold chain technology is crucial to developing local and international agriculture-based markets and improving economic outcomes and food security.
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Off-grid televisions represent a major emerging commercial opportunity, but high upfront cost and low-quality products remain a barrier to an accelerated market development.
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Fans are one of the most overlooked, life-saving cooling solutions, but most fans on the market are too energy-intensive to pair with off-grid solar systems.
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