For over a decade, Lighting Global Quality Assurance has operated as the foundational platform for the off-grid solar industry, serving as a critical and stabilizing force. By working with the sector to set quality standards, promote durable off-grid products, and adopt harmonized policies, Lighting Global Quality Assurance has instilled confidence in what was once a nascent and unproven industry.

Yet there is more to do. Advancements in technology and consumer affordability are pushing the market toward higher-power systems able to support appliances and productive uses. As consumers climb the energy ladder, the need to expand quality assurance beyond lighting grows.

On February 18, 2020, Lighting Global, CLASP, and the Schatz Energy Research Center launched VeraSol, an evolved quality assurance program that responds to the market’s growing needs.

VeraSol builds upon the strong foundation laid by Lighting Global. and expands its services to encompass appliances, productive uses, and component-based solar home systems. The program maintains the existing Lighting Global Quality Assurance framework and merges it with comparable product data for off-grid appliances and productive uses currently housed under Equip Data. To better serve consumers, companies, and the market, VeraSol now encompasses technical foundations—in the form of uniform test methods—for appliances and productive uses. It will expand these services to other products in the coming years.

VeraSol is managed by CLASP in partnership with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University (Schatz Center). Both organizations have managed the Lighting Global Quality Assurance program since 2016 and will continue to oversee standards development, product testing, quality verification, and technical assistance.

VeraSol will serve the sector as a broad foundational platform. Under the operational leadership of CLASP and the Schatz Center, VeraSol will build collective ownership of QA services across an expanded group stakeholders. Foundational support is provided by the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global program, UK DfID, IKEA Foundation, and others.

Over the next year, CLASP and its implementing partners will work with Lighting Global to transition all elements of the quality assurance program while minimizing the risk of market disruption. CLASP expects to fully transition the program by September 2021. For more information please visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, or contact Ari Reeves and Lauren Boucher.