Billions of people worldwide – most of them among the world’s poorest – live without adequate access to electricity. Energy poverty depressed economic and educational opportunities, impeding lasting development gains.

In 2012, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) launched one of several international responses to this issue, the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) Outstanding Off-Grid Product Awards

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify the world’s best low-voltage direct current (DC) off-grid appliances. Because they create and sustain demand for small low-voltage off-grid energy systems (such as solar home systems), off-grid appliances are important energy access tools.

CLASP – in its role as the program’s Operating Agent –manages the Global LEAP Awards, which seeks to catalyze off-grid product markets and increase energy access by identifying the most energy efficient, affordable, highest quality appliances, and sending clear signals about product performance to the off-grid market.

By aiming to increase benefits for consumers, manufacturers, and governments through appliance market transformation, Global LEAP works in a similar way to market transformation efforts under the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, another CEM initiative for which CLASP is the Operating Agent.

The Global LEAP Awards is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

About the Global LEAP Awards

The Awards’ first round of competition will identify energy-efficient, high quality off-grid LED room lighting appliances and flat-panel color televisions. Nominations for the LED room lighting appliance awards closed on October 11, 2013.

Energy Efficiency of Off-Grid Appliances

By providing the off-grid marketplace clear signals about appliance quality and energy efficiency, the Global LEAP Awards helps the off-grid appliance and solar home system market grow.

Energy efficiency is important in off-grid appliances: off-grid consumers typically have access to very little electricity. Because they use less energy, efficient appliances run longer on limited energy than inefficient appliances. They also reduce the size of the power system needed to run them. For example, a 6W LED light is roughly equivalent to a 13W CFL light in terms of light emitted—but the LED requires ½ as much electricity and can be powered by a smaller, more affordable power system.