In this episode, we speak with six panellists working in energy access: Amaury Fastenakels: Chief Marketing Officer, BBOXX, Michael Sudarkasa: Chief Executive Officer, Africa Business Group, Karl Skare: Managing Director of Global Partnerships and Strategy, d.light, Raghav Sachdeva: Chief Investment Officer, Nithio, and Emily McAteer: Founder & CEO…

In this episode, we speak to Naomi Kioi from Greenlight Planet, one of the largest solar companies in Africa. Greenlight Planet is a social-mission, for profit company which has sold over 1.3m of their Sun King products since 2009 working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria, expanding at a rate of over 65,000 new solar installations per month. …

We speak with Cameron Smith, Product Management Lead at ZOLA Electric, on the process and challenges of developing energy solutions for emerging markets. We discuss: The types of products ZOLA Electric has developed Challenges of product management for energy solutions Differences in customer needs and demands across various geographies. Contact us…

We speak with Tonya James and Piper Foster Wilder and from 60Hertz. 60 Hertz develops maintenance software for off-grid microgrids in remote locations, including solutions for areas where mobile and internet connectivity may be poor. They’re based in Alaska, which is home to 13% of the world’s microgrids, and are expanding their operations and work…

In this conversation, we speak with Brave Mhonie, General Manager of SunnyMoney in Malawi. SunnyMoney is the largest seller and distributor of solar lights in Africa, and is a social enterprise owned by SolarAid, an international UK-based charity. We speak about their business model innovations to enable Sunny Money to grow sales in a sustainable a…

In this episode, we speak with Maya Stewart, co-founder of Yellow Solar Power, a digital-first solar energy retailer in Malawi. Contact us at [email protected] Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) Episode not…

In this episode, we speak with Emily McAteer, CEO and Cofounder at Odyssey Energy Solutions and Eitan Hochster, VP of Business Development. Odyssey is a web-based platform that is facilitating rapid deployment of microgrids in emerging markets. Their data platform manages how mini-grid data is analyzed and communicated via software tools, data anal…

We speak to Tobias Engelmeier from TFE Energy and VIDA about data and analytics in the off-grid energy access sector, focusing on digital planning. This is the shorter version of our conversation; full conversation also available. Contact us at [email protected] Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn VID…

We speak to Tobias Engelmeier from TFE Energy and VIDA about data and analytics in the off-grid energy access sector. Contact us at [email protected] Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn VIDA website: https://www.villagedata.io/ Show notes: (1:55) Tobias' background and how he entered the energy sector…

In this episode, we speak with Abhishek Jain from CEEW in India. We speak about Clean Cooking, and Abhishek shares his top 12 (not-so-obvious) findings about the Productive Energy Use industry. Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn CEEW: company website Abhishek Jain's Na…

We speak with Abhishek Jain from the Council for Energy Environment and Water in India. We discuss energy access, productive energy use, solar water pumps, and the electricity sector in India. Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Show notes: (1:40) Introduction to CEEW, …

We speak with Waringa Matindi, CEO of Village Energy, a Ugandan company providing custom solar installations for rural businesses, institutions & agriculture that enable improved incomes, job creation, and access to services. We speak about Waringa’s experience as a new CEO, how gender equality interacts with energy access, the cultural differences…

In this episode, we speak with Manuel Wiechers from Iluméxico about last mile electrification in Mexico. We discuss the challenges of providing energy access to remote communities in Mexico and Latin America, the regulatory setting for energy in Mexico, the challenges for the off-grid sector in portfolio management, and their shifting business mode…

We speak with Henry Louie, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Seattle, and author of 'Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries'. We discuss the technical considerations for off-grid electrical systems, common pitfalls or misunderstandings in off-grid energy systems, his work with the non-f…

We speak with Henry Louie, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Seattle, and author of 'Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries'. We discuss the technical considerations for off-grid electrical systems, common pitfalls or misunderstandings in off-grid energy systems, his work with the non-f…

We speak with Andreas Lehner, co-founder of Trine. Trine is a crowdfunding platform that enables retail and institutional investors to invest in off-grid solar projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. They provide debt financing for energy projects, and have raised over EUR36 million to date. We discuss debt finance to provide workin…

We speak with Richard Harrison, CEO of Smart Power Myanmar, a non-profit organization working to accelerate the adoption of decentralised renewable energy in Myanmar by providing data and evidence, convening key stakeholders, and offering financing solutions. We discuss the current energy landscape in Myanmar, the need for an integrated approach to…

We speak with Leslie Labruto, Head of Energy Access at Acumen, about the equity investment landscape in off-grid solar. We discuss Solar Home Systems (SHSs), minigrids, impact investment, successful business models, challenges and opportunities in the sector, and what makes a great investment for Acumen. Recorded in 2019 Visit us at www.distributin…

We speak with Nicholai Lidow from LIB Solar about community solar in Liberia. We discuss the challenges of energy access and doing business in one of the poorest countries in the world, the trade-off between social and environmental impact, how rebel groups inspires his work (!), the challenges for equity finance in off-grid solar, and the potentia…

We speak to Jay Patel from Enlight Institute about setting up a solar academy in Uganda. We discuss the need for training and development programs to develop technical and soft skills, the solar landscape in Uganda, and the broader demand for training services across other sectors. Recorded in April 2020 Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contac…

In this episode, we speak to Helen Davies from Futurepump, a solar water pump manufacturing company. Futurepump produces solar water pumps that are targeted at small holder farmers in Africa and Asia, enabling farmers to improve irrigation for their land. Recorded in 2019 Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar…

In this episode, we speak to Jiten Ghelani from Promethean Power, a Cold-Chain-as-a-Service provider based in India. Promethean offers a farm-to-fork cold chain service, enabling rural dairy farmers in India to get their milk to market in a safe, affordable and reliable manner. We speak about the benefits of a distributed cold chain solution, and t…

In this episode, we speak with Olusegun (Segun) Odunaiya and Oluwatobi (Tobi) Soyombo from Havenhill Synergy. Havenhill is a renewable energy provider based in Abuja, Nigeria, with the goal of ending blackouts across the country. The build and develop solar mini-grids in off-grid areas of Nigeria, serving rural populations and providing them with r…

In this episode, we speak with Winock Solar on how they are deploying solar systems for microbusinesses in Nigeria. We talk about the challenges to solar adoption in Nigeria and what the opportunities are for solar entrepreneurs. Recorded in 2019 Sanmi: My name is Sanmi Lajuwomi. I am Nigerian of origin and I am the founder and CEO of Winock Solar …