NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Fred Lambert

ZOLA Electric, a Tesla-backed company providing energy to remote African villages through solar and batteries, has announced the deployment of a new microgrid system that is powering 1,000 homes, schools, and businesses in two villages in Rwanda.

We reported on ZOLA Electric back in 2015 when it was still called Off Grid Electric.

At the time, it was a Tanzania-based startup offering solar power and energy storage as a service to rural regions of Africa.

It got on our radar when SolarCity led two early rounds of financing of $16 million and $25 million for the company alongside a Tesla investor, DBL Partners, and SolarCity’s CEO at the time, Lyndon Rive, joined the company’s board.

Photo courtesy of andreas160578.