The world is moving towards clean renewable resources yet in Africa, we still have over 600 million people living without electricity.
Statistics such as these are easy to overlook. Four entrepreneurs Tariq Yusuf, Brent Peterson, Rudi van der Westhuizen and Thlopie Motsepe have joined forces to reduce this number by forming ePower Holdings. A new player in the solar energy industry, ePower Holdings is a leading supplier of Green Renewable energy to communities that are not connected to the electricity grid.
Tariq Yusuf co-founder and spokesperson of ePower states, “We do not offer a product, we offer an off-grid solution that works, is manageable and self-sufficient in the form of 20ft and 40ft containers which have 1.8 KW of solar power:”.
The 20ft container can provide 500 household battery swaps per day and a 40ft container can provide 1,000 household battery swaps per day. The household battery is a 12 Volt battery which comes with an LED light Capable of lighting a small room and the battery is also capable of charging small appliances in each household.
These containers also offer a series of services, electricity being the main source which ensures that the ePower model is self-sufficient. The containers also provide communities with 24-hour TV viewing, an Internet Café with 24/7 Wi-Fi as well as educational platforms.
Charging of batteries and cell phones generates enough income to employ about four people in each community who share the responsibility of ensuring the containers work efficiently.
As an African innovative solution, ePower has set its sights on the rest of Africa, planning to roll out 15 containers in each country by 2019 with entrepreneurs running and profiting from this initiative. “We believe that this will motivate more African entrepreneurs to initiate their own ePower containers in other off-grid communities”, says Tariq.
“ePower has just been deployed in Zambia and we are currently in talks with Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Nigeria,” he continues.
As a way of breaking into the International scene ePower has recently entered The Zayed Future Energy Prize in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This annual prestigious award focuses on achievements in renewable energy and sustainability that reflect impact and long-term vision.
“We have also entered the Beyond the Grid Zambia Fund aimed at powering 1 million Zambian’s living off-grid. We strongly believe that this will assist in increasing demand for containers in this country” he concludes.