IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2014 - 46

and marketing agents receive regular training (see figure 5).
in addition, capacity building is furthered through customer
education courses.
Project Financing and Costs

figure 4. Heshima Center, Kenya (photo courtesy of
Mobisol).

not afford high-quality ShSs. using mobile banking and a
microfinancing service, the costs can be paid off conveniently
using a mobile phone as part of a 36-month installment plan
(see figure 4).
Mobisol's system is available in four different sizes: with
nominal power of 30, 80, 120, or 200 W. the smallest unit
can light two rooms and charge four mobile phones per day.
the largest system can power multiple lights and consumer
appliances such as laptops, televisions, or a dc refrigerator
and can charge up to ten mobile phones simultaneously.
excess electricity can be used to run small enterprises based
on the company's business kits, such as mobile phone charging operations or barbershops.
the ShS comes complete with a three-year warranty and
a full service package including free maintenance throughout
the three-year warranty period. through the gSM modem
included in the solar controller, technical data from the panel
and battery is tracked and monitored by local technicians
in a Web-based interface. the remote-monitoring technology allows potential maintenance problems to be addressed
swiftly and enables systems to be locked automatically in
case of overdue repayment. all technicians, sales staffers,

the total project investment to date is uS$5 million. the
company was able to attract private investors, as well as
grants and preferential loans from the finance and investment Section of the german Development cooperation
(Deg), the energy and environment Partnership in Southern
and east africa (eeP), and the africa enterprise challenge
fund (aecf). other partners include the mobile network
operators Vodacom and airtel along with Kakute ltd.
the fixed and up-front costs are mostly spent on prefinancing of the ShS, on wages for 50 employees in tanzania
and 20 employees in berlin, on rent for the necessary offices,
and on travel. the costs vary according to the size of the
system being installed.
the total sales price of an installed ShS is the cumulative amount returned over the three-year period via monthly
installments. Payments are based on customers' previous traditional energy source spending behaviors. Due to expected
growing cash flow, the project will reach breakeven in 2014.
Project Outcome

With the completion of a successful pilot phase that involved
about 300 paying customers in tanzania and Kenya, the replicability of the company's business model was confirmed.
consequently, it officially launched its product in January
2013, which resulted in 3,000 installed systems in ghana,
Kenya, and tanzania that same year. in the future, the enterprise aspires to reach millions of households in low-income
communities, stimulating economic and social development
in project countries while simultaneously contributing to
global environmental protection.

Case Study 2: "Dosing" Monte Trigo's Energy
Daily Allowance (EDA) in Cape Verde
The Companies

three companies were primarily involved with this project:
aterSa, Studer innotec, and trama tecno ambiental (tta).
The Challenge

figure 5. German and Tanzanian colleagues working
together (photo courtesy of Mobisol).
46

ieee power & energy magazine

Monte trigo is a village on Santo antão, cape Verde's westernmost island. the 60-family community is only accessible
by boat and is completely dependent on fishing and trade with
nearby villages. ice is a matter of survival for the inhabitants
of Monte trigo. they need it to preserve their fish; hence
the constant and frequent five-hour boat trips (each way) to
São Vicente, the nearest main island, for ice purchases. the
community's heavy dependence on diesel fuel to power their
boats, among other uses, was an increasing strain on the
island's fragile economy, so a reliable, affordable, and clean
source of energy became a priority for the community.
july/august 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2014