MeshPower Ltd. is seeking 10,000 customers in rural Africa and India for its solar power micro-grids to replace more costly kerosene-fueled lighting by 2016.
The company now has about 250 customers in Rwanda and India and has the funds to increase this four-fold by the end of the year, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Lukas Lukoschek said in an interview in London, where MeshPower is based.
The grids each supply as many as 54 customers using power from sources including solar. The systems can store power for two days, while the company also plans to implement a weather forecast feature that rations usage in case of low sunlight.
“In Rwanda, people spend a lot on kerosene,” Lukoschek said. “A typical family can spend between $4 and $12 a month. To tailor to different customer needs, we offer various tariffs for our customers. We are able to serve households as well as offer solutions for business customers.”
MeshPower will seek first-round financing from investors with “similar experiences” and developing-country networks after rolling out 1,000 connections and gathering data from the systems, he said, declining to say how much would be raised.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-24/meshpower-seeks-10-000-african-indian-customers-for-rural-solar.html
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