--- title: "Home" description: "" url: "https://demo.uichemy.com/kindling/" updated: "2026-10-27" --- # Home ![A solar installer kneeling on a corrugated roof beside a newly fitted panel, looking out over the village at sunset.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/838c5bc63a24ce3d.webp) Working since 2014 ##### 61,400 households reached # A $40 Lantern, And Someone To Fix It - Home solar→ - Cookstoves→ - Community grids→ - Local technicians→ Light not bought by the litre 2014+ The year we started ##### [ Our Remit ] ## A $40 lantern changes a household's evening, and the technician we trained keeps it working for a decade. ![A line of tin roofs stepping down a hillside village, each one carrying a small solar panel.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/65697b7c2aacd7f3.webp) Kindling runs no field operations. We fund and train 214 community partners in 9 countries, and they fit the lanterns, the cookstoves and the grids, then keep them working. 91p in every pound reaches a programme. ##### Programmes ## Four Programmes, and What Each One Buys ### Household Solar A rechargeable lantern, or a roof panel and four light points, fitted by a technician nearby. See the Work ![A technician in a high-visibility vest wiring cables into a charge controller on the wall of a village house.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/ac16c45ca94155f3.webp) ##### $240kProgramme goal ##### $186.5kRaised so far by donors ### Clean Cookstoves A vented stove that halves the wood you burn and takes the smoke out of the room you cook in. See the Work ![A woman cooking on a vented clay and steel stove in a doorway, with no smoke in the room.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/342ddbcbbc76ad5e.webp) ##### $160kGoal for stoves ##### $121.3kRaised so far ### Community Mini-Grids One shared array and battery, metered and community owned, for a clinic, a school and a grain mill. See the Work ![Two technicians wiring a battery bank in an open shed at a mini-grid site.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/63872164c9debb08.webp) ##### $420kGoal for the grids ##### $268.4kRaised towards it ### Technician Training A nine month apprenticeship in panels, batteries and stoves, then paid work keeping it going. See the Work ![Five apprentices gathered around a workbench in an open-sided partner workshop.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/2714cee56971f825.webp) ##### $90kTraining goal ##### $74.9kRaised by donors ##### How Giving Works ## Your Money Buys A Thing, And Someone To Maintain It ![An installer in a high-visibility vest drilling the first bracket for a roof panel.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/3f37e891e5fc7070.webp) ### The Kit Arrives A local technician fits the lantern, the panel or the stove, and warranties it. ![A partner coordinator sitting under a tree with a household, going through a notebook together.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/480b2369fed99d87.webp) ### The Repair Matters Two years on, the same person comes back for the part that wore out. ##### Your gift ## Choose What Your Gift Pays For The average cost of lighting one household is $47, and each tier below buys named kit plus the local technician who fits and keeps it. One-off Monthly ##### Give monthly Solar lantern ### Light One lantern, one evening back. $40per gift A rechargeable lantern, fitted and warrantied by a technician who lives nearby. - 01. One rechargeable lantern - 02. Two years of warranty - 03. Local fitting - 04. Two years of parts - 05. A note on where it went DeliveredIn 90 days ##### Most chosen Home system ### Household A four-point system and the fitting. $120per gift A roof panel and four light points, plus a phone charging point, covered for five years by a local fitter. - 01. Roof panel, four lights - 02. Charging point - 03. Fitted by a technician - 04. Five-year cover - 05. A photo of the fitting DeliveredIn 90 days Grid share ### Cluster A share of a village array and its battery. $500per gift A metered share of a village array, with the clinic and school connected and the partner backed to handover. - 01. A metered array share - 02. Clinic and school power - 03. Commissioning and metering - 04. Two years of support - 05. A report on the build DeliveredIn 12 months Solar lantern ### Light One lantern, one evening back. $5per gift Ongoing A rechargeable lantern, fitted and warrantied by a technician who lives nearby. - 01. One rechargeable lantern - 02. Two years of warranty - 03. Local fitting - 04. Two years of parts - 05. A note on where it went DeliveredIn 90 days ##### Most chosen Home system ### Household A four-point system and the fitting. $12per gift Ongoing A roof panel and four light points, plus a phone charging point, covered for five years by a local fitter. - 01. Roof panel, four lights - 02. Charging point - 03. Fitted by a technician - 04. Five-year cover - 05. A photo of the fitting DeliveredIn 90 days Grid share ### Cluster A share of a village array and its battery. $40per gift Ongoing A metered share of a village array, with the clinic and school connected and the partner backed to handover. - 01. A metered array share - 02. Clinic and school power - 03. Commissioning and metering - 04. Two years of support - 05. A report on the build DeliveredIn 12 months ##### From The Field ## Four Voices ![Grace Mwale, Head of Technician Training.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/eecccb172e640619.webp) Grace Mwale Head of Training The install is the easy part. I train people for the visit two years later, when a battery has gone soft and a part has to be ordered. 1,860 ![Thandiwe Banda, Executive Director, in conversation beside a partner workshop bench.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/dffd81a28e784296.webp) Thandiwe Banda Executive Director We do not run field teams. The woman who fits your system lives twenty minutes away, and she will still be there in five years. 214 ![A clinic manager standing beside a vaccine refrigerator that now runs on solar power.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/197b08e85d2e0b82.webp) A manager Clinic, Malawi Our vaccine fridge used to stop whenever the generator ran dry. Since the array went in, the cold chain has held, and nobody drives for fuel. 112 ![Joseph Phiri, Lead Installer, standing at the foot of a ladder against a village wall.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/6a896fb458c0ef4e.webp) Joseph Phiri Lead Installer Four roofs in a day is a good day. At the fourth house the light was still on past nine in the evening, which they had not had before. 23,900 61,400 Households reached Homes with a lantern or a roof panel fitted, across nine programme countries. 1,860 Technicians trained People paid to install and repair solar, batteries and stoves after a nine-month course. 91% Funding to programmes The share of every pound that reaches the field, not the Bristol office. ## Plain Answers Six things donors ask before they give. ### Where does my money go? Of every pound you give, 91p reaches the programmes. The rest runs the Bristol office and the 38 staff who plan the work, buy the kit and check it. ### Why energy and not water? Energy unlocks the rest. A $40 lantern buys two more trading hours after dusk, and a vented stove cuts household fuel use by 52%. ### Who installs the systems? A trained local technician from one of our 214 partners. Most live twenty minutes from the roof they fit. ### What if it breaks? The technician who fitted it comes back. Every system carries two years of parts and cover, and 1,860 trained people do repairs. ### Do you use partners? Through partners, always. We fund and train 214 community organisations across 9 countries, and 29 of 38 staff live there. ### Can I give monthly? Yes. Switch the toggle above and give $5, $12 or $40 a month. Regular gifts let a partner plan a year of fitting, not one roof. ## Out in the Field Short pieces from the people doing the work, on what the money buys and what it does not. Read them in any order. ### Unlocking Creativity in Web Design with UiChemy’s Flexible Framework October 27, 2026 ![Unlocking Creativity in Web Design with UiChemy’s Flexible Framework](https://demo.uichemy.com/kindling/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2026/10/3f37e891e5fc7070-7-1024x576.webp) ### Integrating UiChemy with Modern Web Technologies for Seamless Development October 27, 2026 ![Integrating UiChemy with Modern Web Technologies for Seamless Development](https://demo.uichemy.com/kindling/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2026/10/2714cee56971f825-7-1024x439.webp) ### Designing Dynamic User Interfaces with UiChemy: A Creative Approach October 27, 2026 ![Designing Dynamic User Interfaces with UiChemy: A Creative Approach](https://demo.uichemy.com/kindling/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2026/10/63872164c9debb08-7-1024x439.webp) ## Fund A Lantern, A Stove Or A Whole Grid Gifts are costed: $47 lights a household, and 91% reaches programmes. ![A woman standing in the doorway of her hillside home as the light inside comes on.](https://assets.uichemy.com/6a8d825924a2067386875cf4/uploads/6adb23cd7e30ade6259bba63/ab65639e20f28d65.webp)