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Press Release: Pan-African Micro-Utility PowerGen Acquires Rafiki Power (E.ON Off-Grid Solutions) From E.ON
The combination of two market-leading micro-grid companies reflects growing momentum in the sector.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Solar, Expanded: Building the Future of Utilities in Bangladesh
Imagine a network of homes – some with solar panels, some without – buying and selling renewable power in small, on-demand increments. “Swarm electrification,” as it’s known, is no longer imaginary, but a peer-to-peer system many entrepreneurs and utilities are exploring, including the Bangladeshi startup SOLshare. Tatiana Bessarabova at Endeva explains why SOLshare’s “prosumer” model, and a project to expand it, could be the future of utilities around the world.
- Categories
- Energy
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Clean vs. ‘Clean Enough’: How the Clean Cooking Industry Can Overcome its Struggles to Scale
Access to clean cookstoves and fuels has only increased by 0.5% per year, well below all global development goals. To turn this trajectory around, Jessica Alderman at Envirofit International argues that the industry needs to resolve a high-stakes debate: Should it focus only on the cleanest solutions that have the greatest health and environmental impacts? Or should it fund and promote technologies that have lesser impacts - but that are more affordable and likelier to reach the people who need them most?
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Technology
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Low Energy Consumption = Unprofitable Mini-Grids. Is Appliance Financing the Answer?
Over 600 million Africans live without electricity, and mini-grids are a cheap solution to bring power to at least 100 million of them. But the mini-grid business model is not yet sustainable. This is due in part to low levels of energy consumption by rural customers, who often can't afford the high upfront costs of appliances that would increase their energy usage. Analysts at CrossBoundary explore new research on whether offering financing for household appliances can help overcome this barrier.
- Categories
- Energy
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Smart Gas Cooking Seeks to Break African Cities’ Dirty Charcoal Habit
So far, efforts to introduce cleaner stoves that burn less fuel have been led mainly by aid agencies working in rural parts of Africa and Asia - and have had limited success. But a new push by businesses targeting urban areas aims to shift the dial.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mercy Corps, MTN Liberia Launch Mobile Payment for PayGo Solar Systems
PayGo enables households to buy quality solar systems and pay in installments instead of outright upfront payment. So far, partner private sector distributors have installed over 1,100 pay as you go systems, improving the lives of rural dwellers, particularly those with children of school-going age.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Is Awash In Sunshine – Energy That Will Help Empower The Continent
“Africa is not burdened with telecom lines and as a result, it went straight to mobile communications,” says Chris Kemper, chief executive of Palmetto, a clean energy and social-impact company, in a talk with this writer. “The same thing can be said for clean energy and clean technology.”
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Solar Water Pumps Have Been Around Since the 1970s: Here’s Why They Haven’t Scaled
Solar water pumps, which have been around for years, are becoming far more affordable thanks to declining solar panel prices and new business models – particularly for the roughly 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide. So why isn’t the industry taking off? Makena Ireri and Jenny Corry Smith of CLASP, a group of 14 donor organizations working to scale markets and reduce the prices of off-grid technologies, present several reasons. They explore solutions for making solar irrigation systems a priority in the off-grid conversation.
- Categories
- Energy
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