M-KOPA provides pay-as-you-go electricity to off-grid households and businesses by combining micropayment and mobile technology to enable leasing of solar power systems.
M-KOPA’s financing model makes the company’s solar systems affordable for East African households and businesses. Each system is bought with an initial deposit of $35, followed by 365 daily payments of $0.50, which is less than typical customers’ daily spending on kerosene. The system comes with a battery, a phone charger and a smart SIM connection. When a payment is made via mobile phone, a signal is sent from the central platform to activate the battery and power is provided.
We believe that off-grid energy provision can be truly transformative for millions of people living off the grid.
Jesse Moore – Co-Founder and CEO, M-KOPA Solar
After payment completion, the customer owns the solar system outright. Customers with good payment behavior are then offered a range of upgrades if they continue with their $0.5 per day payment plan. These upgrades range from additional lights, energy-efficient cook stoves, smart phones and solar TVs, all adding additional revenue for M-KOPA. The company has connected more than 700,000 homes in East Africa to solar power, as of November 2018.
Why you should care
More than 620 million people, or two-thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, are without access to an electricity grid. By combining micropayment and mobile technologies, M-KOPA is rapidly growing in its quest to provide renewable energy to customers for whom clean, affordable electricity was previously inaccessible.
As of May 2017, M-KOPA has connected over 700,000 homes to affordable solar power with 500 new homes being added every day. Current customers will make projected savings of USD 375 million over the next four years, with 87.5 million hours of clean energy enjoyed by M-KOPA households every month.
How the Global Goals are addressed
Quality Education
Providing lighting in the evenings allows children to study more effectively, without relying on dim, polluting and dangerous kerosene lamps.
Affordable Clean Energy
The innovative finance system allows households and businesses who previously did not have sufficient capital to buy a solar system to get access to a basic form of electrification.
Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Bypassing centralized energy systems reliant on fossil fueled power stations can help Africa become the first continent with reduced grid-based dependency/carbon-intensive energy infrastructure.
Climate Action
A company study found that the home solar systems replace 160,000 liters of kerosene daily, which vastly reduces the CO2 emissions from domestic energy consumption.
M-KOPA Solar
M-KOPA Solar's mission is to upgrade lives by making high-quality solutions affordable to everyone.
Global Goals addressed