Switching on the blog lights

I'm Ahmed Amer, and I live in Cairo, Egypt. I'm holding a BSc in electrical engineering and I'm willing to change the world around me, even within a small radius. If it wasn't for my limited resources, I would've built a far bigger project, but I will go with what I can afford. I'm doing this research to help people looking for the same idea, and I hope people who have experience can help me too.

Problem description:

• 1. Cost 
  

Electrical energy cost in Egypt has been raised at the beginning of 2013 for about 15% according to the following list:
1 EGP = 100 Pt
1 USD = 7 EGP (Today)
Monthly usage up to 50 kWh: Rate is 5 Pt / kWh
Monthly usage up to 200 kWh: Rate is 12 Pt / kWh
Monthly usage up to 350 kWh: Rate is 19 Pt / kWh
Monthly usage up to 650 kWh: Rate is 29 Pt / kWh
Monthly usage up to 1000 kWh: Rate is 53 Pt / kWh
Monthly usage more than 1000 kWh: Rate is 67 Pt / kWh

I took into consideration that the dollar price will not stop rising in the near future.
I took into consideration also that our economy is not growing in the near future, thus buying fuel for power stations puts a great headache on the country's income.
New fuel prices (higher) will be applied by the end of 2013 which shall raise the prices of everything.
My average usage of power lies between 200 and 350 kWh/month, thus I pay between 30 to 70 EGP/month, (which is not too much, but cost was not the main problem). That because i took some steps in saving energy which I will discuss later.

• 2. Availability
  

Normally in winter, there are few power outages, because we have a moderate climate and don't usually use heaters. But in summer, the power outage is frequent (daily) and during the coming 5-7 years, Ramadan month is coming in the summer, where a peak electricity usage occurs during Iftar period which is at dusk. With all those lights on, ACs, TVs, electric stoves, kitchen machines, dish receivers and PCs, the power outage due to load shedding becomes more frequent and lasts longer. In summer it is very hot at 6-7-8-9, where we suffer a lot if there isn't at least a fan to give some breath.

• 3. Appliances switching
  

When the power outage has ended, some of the left-on devices keep their last state, thus going on again as soon as power has been restored. This definitely shortens the device age. In some areas, the power does fluctuate until it is stable again. This includes overvoltage and undervoltage which if the power supply of the device can't handle, it will be damaged. Also motors and pumps can suffer damage from this behavior.

• Environment
  

Extracting power from fossil fuel causes a lot of damage for the environment in the form of increased carbon emissions, thus increases the global warming due to green house effect. In Egypt, the idea of saving the environment is not very popular due to the level of education and poverty, but as a collage-degree holder, I should put that into consideration.

• Social responsibility
  

Well, saving some kilowatts from my side does mean that some poor guys living in a small rooms with one lamp in each room can use this extra power that I saved. A small contribution for the community is better than nothing at all.