Solar Pay-as-You-Go Method for Africa

Pay as you go isn’t just for mobile phones anymore, now it is being used in an off-grid solar application in Africa. UK company Eight19 developed the IndiGo which uses mobile phone technology to turn solar power into a pay-as-you-go service.

 

Users purchase scratch cards from local vendors and then enter the scratch card number along with the number of their IndiGo system to a local phone number by text message. The message is received by an Eight19 server which replies immediately with a short passcode back to the user’s phone.

 

The product is self-financing without government subsidies or other support mechanisms. Eight19’s Seena Rejal told Alternative Energy Africa that each product costs about $10 in order to give customers a sense of ownership.

 

So far the company has piloted about 200 products in Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi, but February will see the deployment of 4,000 products in collaboration with SolarAid.

 

Visit us at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi from January 16-19, and pick up the latest issue of Alternative Energy Africa while meeting our staff! For more information, please contact LeAnne Graves, lgraves@AE-Africa.com

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