In this conversation, we speak with Brave Mhonie, General Manager of SunnyMoney in Malawi. SunnyMoney is the largest seller and distributor of solar lights in Africa, and is a social enterprise owned by SolarAid, an international UK-based charity. We speak about their business model innovations to enable Sunny Money to grow sales in a sustainable and profitable way; how SolarAid and SunnyMoney work together to innovate entrepreneurship in rural, remote locations, and the importance of education and SunnyMoney’s partnership with schools, teachers and the Ministry of Eduction in Malawi. We also speak about how the solar industry has changed in the past decade and how the promise and potential for clean energy shifted Brave's aspirations to work as a medical doctor, to having now worked over 10 years in the solar industry. Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) Show notes: (1:00) Introduction to Sunny Money; SolarAid's founding by Jeremy Leggett, focusing on trade rather than aid (3:20) Sunny Money's approach to innovative business model and the evolution of go-to-market strategy; initial focus on pico solar and solar lights; how the industry has changed in the past 10 years enabling businesses to focus on distribution (5:00) Their focus on seeding solar businesses in local areas, receiving investment from local businessmen to expand their reach across Malawi, providing working capital for SunnyMoney who continues to manage the business; a financing innovation for local businesses (6:00) SolarAid's partial subsidy to provide a cushion for the costs to reach a remote customer; how to get a substantial presence in a rural community; operational expenses which are partially covered by SolarAid (12:00) Customer engagement model; an initial deposit paid by customer; sales representatives act as area agents to manage cash collections, after-sales services, payment management (14:00) Mobile money's role; supported business, however some areas where mobile money is not available. The continued need to manage debt; the difficulty of managing payments during seasons when customers focus on buying farming materials (16:00) Overview of the solar industry in Malawi over the past 10 years: growing customer awareness and interest in larger systems; government's role in supporting the sector, removing VAT and various taxes (17:00) The government's potential to help with consumer education, making consumers aware of other affordable energy solutions; the potential for government infrastructure development (19:00) Diesel genset, batteries as alternative energy sources; dry cell powered torches (21:00) Brave's route into Sunny Money, initially wanting to work as a medical doctor, and seeing the potential to improve health with solar power (24:00) Challenges of managing people, importing goods, financing assets; it's a new sector so there are many challenges (25:00) SolarAid support in funding; Developing financing business co-operatives with Global Distributor's Collective (27:00) Surprised by the government's interest in combating energy poverty (29:00) How they decide to expand: looking at income levels, population density, support and existing infrastructure and organisations that can help them (30:00) Their partnership with the Ministry of Education; using teachers' development centers as distribution points (34:00) Working with SunnyMoney in other countries (36:00) Advice: Be patient and keep innovating! (37:00) Inspiring figures: Jeremy Leggett and the person who introduced him to solar in the first place (38:00) Recommended books: Blue Ocean Strategy (39:00) Predictions: the off-grid solar sector will grow very quickly, with growing demand for investments

Distributing Solar

Innovative solar business models with Brave Mhonie (SunnyMoney / SolarAid)

In this episode, we speak with Maya Stewart, co-founder of Yellow Solar Power, a digital-first solar energy retailer in Malawi. Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) Episode notes: (1:15) Introduction to Yellow Solar Power, Maya's background in marketing and her start in solar lighting technologies, growing demand for solar technologies and shift towards SHSs; the lack of initial interest for off-grid companies to work in Malawi (4:30) Concerns by solar companies working in Malawi due its low GDP; the beginning of Yellow working to provide electricity to 4m households; their use of PAYG / mobile money technologies and platforms (7:30) Their lean, bootstrapped approach to starting the company (8:30) Yellow's agent network: trying to minimise transportation costs; investments in providing news, branding, information and training of their agents; a local-focused approach in high population density areas; agents as the central point of contact for their customers for a 24 month relationship (13:30) Yellow's digital retail approach: a remote structure, all agents are online and on Whatsapp; applications are all digital (15:30) Progress of Yellow: Started in 2018 and their faster than expected growth; the importance of fundraising and selling 20k units by September and expecting 50k units by December 2020 (18:30) Their agent scout approach, to bring on new agents (20:00) Their decision to focus on Malawi; the impact of deforestation in Malawi on the lake and hydropower, reducing the output and reliability of hydro electricity (23:00) The gender impact in energy (27:00) How lighting affects women: the need for women giving birth to provide lighting, to look after the sick, to support girl's education, providing security (29:30) Their approach for trying to encourage more women to join Yellow: the need to have a smart phone to be an employee; their Project Khumbo to encourage women to join; how women agents can relate well with customers and build a strong customer relationship (44:00) The impact of lack of education for girls in Malawi (47:00) Maya's background, growing up in Kenya and her decision to move back to Malawi after university (50:00) Where the name Yellow come from (51:30) Recommended book/movie: 'The boy who harnessed the wind' - based in Malawi (52:50) Advice: Understand your customer and know what they want and need; how solar can help to solve other social problems, e.g. urban migration (56:00) Maya and her husband's love of travelling (58:00) Prediction: huge growth in off grid electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa, with huge opportunity

Household solar in Malawi with Maya Stewart (Yellow Solar Power)

In this episode, we speak with Emily McAteer, CEO and Cofounder at Odyssey Energy Solutions and Eitan Hochster, VP of Business Development. Odyssey is a web-based platform that is facilitating rapid deployment of microgrids in emerging markets. Their data platform manages how mini-grid data is analyzed and communicated via software tools, data analytics and marketplaces, enabling mini-grid project developers to connect with investors, suppliers, donors and other market stakeholders. We speak about their work with the Rural Electrification Agency in Nigeria, their work with RBF (Results Based Financing) programs, how their platform is helping government and finance organisations manage their large scale decentralised energy programmes, and how the minigrid financing landscape is changing. Our conversation highlights the importance of operational data, and why aggregating and standardising minigrid data is necessary to accelerate the deployment of minigrid solutions in emerging markets. Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) Show notes: (2:00) Introduction to Odyssey Energy Solutions, their software platform focused on expanding access and financing into the minigrid sector. How the different stakeholders use their platform (5:30) Their engagement with government organisations, e.g. REA; funds e.g. CBEA (CrossBoundary Energy Access) Types of data they work with, e.g. CRMs, customer management systems, smart meters, inverters. The difficulty of investing in large numbers of minigrids due to the smaller size and vast amounts of data (10:30) Their approach to standardising minigrid data; their work with AMDA (17:00) The potential for Machine Learning in improving their forecasting and accuracy of their data models; meeting the need for asset owners and asset management (22:30) How Odyssey interacts with financing and how it encourages and supports financing into minigrids (26:00) Discussion on Results Based Financing, and how Odyssey works with RBF; strong signs of success in Nigeria (32:00) Emergence of project finance in minigrids (33:30) Odyssey's work on COVID19 with Cross Boundary; looking at consumer demand changes and electrification of health facilities (36:30) Eitan's and Emily's background and how they came into the energy access sector (39:00) The challenges of building Odyssey: trying to build a product for a future market (43:00) Their work with NEP (Nigerian Electrification Program) (44:00) Odyssey's financiers: FACTOR[e] and Shell Foundation (49:00) Where the name Odyssey comes from (49:30) Advice to new entrepreneurs in the energy sector (51:00) Predictions for the next 5 years: more business innovation, greater scale in the off-grid sector, mixing between SHS and mini-grids, maturing of project finance available.

Mini-grid data platform for emerging markets with Emily McAteer and Eitan Hochster (Odyssey Energy Solutions)

We speak to Tobias Engelmeier from TFE Energy and VIDA about data and analytics in the off-grid energy access sector. Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) VIDA website: https://www.villagedata.io/ Show notes: (1:55) Tobias' background and how he entered the energy sector (4:00) The reason they produced a report on digitalisation, and the limited progress and adoption thus far within the energy sector in frontier markets (7:00) The main reasons the industry is not on track to meet SDG7 by 2030 - why scale has not reached the energy sector yet (9:20) Introduction to digital payments, which is the most developed within the sector; introduction to scratch cards through to blockchain technologies. A lot of solutions deployed are not fully tech-enabled yet; the technology adoption story that is emerging (15:30) Village Data Analytics and their approach to digitalisation and what the need is for additional data to accelerate the pace of deployment; decisions currently made in data lean environments; VIDA's focus on off-grid areas (19:00) Intro to VIDA / Village Data Analytics; helping to make decisions on where to build minigrids, extend the grid, etc. (21:20) Focus on decision making rather than just information provision (22:30) VIDA's approach to obtaining new sources of data (e.g. from satellite imagery) and using Machine Learning methods to impute data that does not currently exist; specialists developing models with deep industry knowledge (24:45) Examples of customers: governments (e.g. working in Ethiopia, identifying villages, key characteristics, supporting decision making for governments prioritising which health centres should be electrified as a priority); corporates and companies (e.g. SHS companies and microgrid companies; identifying the best targets for expansion and for site selection, for example with PowerGen) (32:30) Which factors are the most important for siting mini-grids and new locations: looking at anchor loads, infrastructure information, average income, ability to pay, etc. Villages as their unit of analysis; the cultural boundaries to their analysis (35:20) The capabilities and analytics that VIDA can provide; the appeal to a broader customer base and other industries (e.g. agriculture, health care etc.) (38:50) Why a data-driven approach has not quite taken off as quickly as we would expect; the need to embed within business-as-usual processes (43:00) Their partnerships and relationship with other organisations, e.g. Odyssey Energy Solutions, Applied AI (48:00) The need to look out for biases that may be integrated in the analytics and models (49:45) Where the name Village Data Analytics comes from (51:30) Tobias' book on Indian politics: Nation-Building and Foreign Policy in India (52:00) Advice: get hands-on experience in the industry; work with funders and financing providers (55:00) Prediction for next 5 years: Great optimism; lots of entrepreneurship and falling technology costs; improved regulations

Data analytics and digitalisation in off-grid energy with Tobias Engelmeier (Village Data Analytics / VIDA)

In this episode, we speak with Abhishek Jain from CEEW in India. We speak about Clean Cooking, and Abhishek shares his top 12 (not-so-obvious) findings about the Productive Energy Use industry. Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) CEEW ( http://ceew.in/ ) : company website Abhishek Jain's Nature article on LPG and clean cooking ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0635-4?proof=t ) Abhishek Jain: 12 (not so) obvious insights about distributed renewables for productive use ( https://medium.com/energy-access-india/12-not-so-obvious-insights-about-distributed-renewables-for-productive-use-4d41fc22ca28 ) Show notes: (2:00) What is the need for clean cooking and why solid fuels are an issue; the public health impact of solid cooking fuels (5:00) The clean cooking solutions that are available: Biogas, LPG, Electricity, Natural Gas (BLEN); the contentious research around improved cookstoves in contrast to clean cooking (7:30) India's focus on LPG to provide clean cooking solutions; LPG's history in India and its penetration to rural India (11:00) Affordability as the most significant barrier to widespread adoption to clean cooking; cultural and behavioural elements to changing behaviour; 50% of rural households are now using LPG (13:30) Four key recommendations: 1) Additional nudges and incentives are required 2) Community norms are very important 3) Households with cattle are less likely to transition 4) Household with irregular incomes are less likely to transition to LPG (19:00) Fuel stacking, and using multiple sources of energy (21:40) 12 (not so) obvious insights about distributed renewables for productive use (21:40) 1. The market opportunity is BIG (24:10) 2. But the market is hard-to-capture (26:00) 3. It’s a game of value, not volume (27:55) 4. Energy efficiency is the key (29:40) 5. End-user financing and service-oriented business models would be game-changing (31:30) 6. For manufacturers: It is hard to survive on a single product (33:00) 7. For deployers: Sustaining a single product portfolio would be unviable (33:00) 8. To survive on a single product — vertical integration is the way to go (33:00) 9. There are no big manufacturers for most productive use appliances (35:10) 10. Market signals are weak. Only the perseverant and networked can succeed (36:45) 11. Distribution channels are not apparent, but existing (38:30) 12. Keep in mind the big picture: A new rural economy (39:00) The impact of COVID-19, the potential to focus efforts on a rural economy; impact of disruption in value chains; the potential to innovate during COVID-19; the trauma of returning to rural areas during COVID-19 lockdown.

Clean Cooking and Productive Energy (Part 2) with Abhishek Jain (CEEW)

We speak with Abhishek Jain from the Council for Energy Environment and Water in India. We discuss energy access, productive energy use, solar water pumps, and the electricity sector in India. Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Follow us on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/distrib_solar ) and LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/distributing-solar/ ) Show notes: (1:40) Introduction to CEEW, the Council on Energy Environment and Water - a not-for-profit think tank. Abhishek's focus on energy access, productive livelihoods, and food systems (6:00) Their work in international topics, outside of India (7:45) India's energy landscape and the significant progress in recent years: estimated 97% electrification rate in India; improving availability (~21 hours/day) and the ongoing need for reliability (10:45) Most electrification conducted by the national, government-led efforts; ~0.5% of population received electricity from decentralised energy solutions (12:45) Powering Livelihoods program, focused on productive energy use and solar powered solutions, in partnership with Villgro; working with existing enterprises to expand their deployment (focused on agribusiness and textiles); collecting data to provide evidence for the viability of the sector (16:30) The types of solutions they work with: solar water pumps, cold storage and biomass, drying machines, sorting machines, processing machines, expelling machines; spinning machines, solar looms etc. The pipeline of solar powered productive energy use appliances (21:00) Supporting the enterprises to adapt to a post-COVID environment; engaging with government agencies and financial players (23:30) The focus on gender within their work: ensuring greater gender inclusivity in their program (25:00) Existing limited irrigation in agriculture; the diversity in groundwater health across India - some areas are facing water stress, but other areas have the potential to improve their use of water resources (28:40) CEEW's tool to assess whether water pumps should be used in a specific areas, and what additional technologies should be deployed alongside water pumps (31:00) Dual electricity distribution network: one for agriculture and water pumps, one for household use (33:00) Water-as-a-Service solutions and business models

Productive Energy Use in India (Part 1) with Abhishek Jain (CEEW)

We speak with Waringa Matindi, CEO of Village Energy, a Ugandan company providing custom solar installations for rural businesses, institutions & agriculture that enable improved incomes, job creation, and access to services. We speak about Waringa’s experience as a new CEO, how gender equality interacts with energy access, the cultural differences between Kenya and Uganda, and even blockchain and cryptocurrency! Recorded in June 2020 Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Show notes: (1:10) Waringa's background in the development sector, gender equality, and her desire to work in reducing poverty. The focus of Village Energy in increasing revenues and incomes (3:30) Village Energy's focus on customised installations for productive energy use; working mostly with businesses (schools, SMEs, health centers) (6:30) Most of their customers are off-grid, replacing diesel generators; some customers are looking for greater reliability (7:40) The use of remote monitoring to ensure the solar system is being used correctly, not being overused and reducing the quality of the battery; can provide alerts for upcoming payments (10:51) Village Energy's hub and spoke model: the need for local offices to build trust with customers, provide reliability and engagement with customers (14:20) Waringa's experience becoming a new CEO; the contrast of working in business vs. the development, non-profit sector. The social impact of Village Energy's work in changing the lives of their customers (18:20) Village Energy's business model as fully for-profit, however some customers find additional sources of funding from grant sources; schools and health centers which are able to provide better services due to access to electricity. The benefits of street lighting to provide greater safety (21:15) Their experience with Binance Foundation, installing solar for schools - working with cryptocurrency (25:15) The contrast between Kenyans and Ugandans: Kenyans being more straightforward and direct; Ugandans being very polite and kind (30:30) The interconnection between gender and development, and energy access: the importance of gender and equality, dirty cooking fuel's impact on women; the ability for energy access to provide additional income for women; the lack of DC productive use appliances that are focused on women's needs (37:00) Their goals for the coming years, to grow their current business; to install 1,200 systems (38:40) The impact of the solar off-grid sector (39:40) The need for patience in the solar sector (40:00) The need to make difficult decisions earlier (41:10) Recommended books: The Hard Thing about Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz; Building a Cash Cow in Kenya by Nat Robinson; How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen (43:30) Their excitement about Li-ion technology that will enable the solar sector to change and improve their business model

Customized Solar in Uganda with Waringa Matindi (Village Energy)

In this episode, we speak with Manuel Wiechers from Iluméxico about last mile electrification in Mexico. We discuss the challenges of providing energy access to remote communities in Mexico and Latin America, the regulatory setting for energy in Mexico, the challenges for the off-grid sector in portfolio management, and their shifting business model to a servicing and PAYG model. Recorded in June 2020 Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Show notes: (1:30) How Manuel got into the energy and solar sector; how he started Iluméxico after working at GE's wind division (5:00) Energy access and electricity sector in Latin America, how the market differs from the energy needs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (7:15) Iluméxico's business model and product offerings: Tier 3 & Tier 4 solar home systems for households, large energy systems that can be upgradable Last-mile service company, with a utility business model PAYG payment options in remote regions without connectivity requirements Remote monitoring capabilities for energy systems (13:10) Their decision to develop their own hardware and software solutions, or to partner with other providers; the development of their new product, El Colibri (18:00) Their progress to date, and the impact on customers and communities; their rapid scale in the past two years, installing over 24,000 systems; their partnership with government to reach last-mile customers; productive energy use and benefits of electricity (23:00) The benefits and drawbacks of working with government agencies: the ability to reach customers more quickly, subsidising the cost of solar systems, the emphasis on development but poorer payment rates. The actions of recent government policy changes in the energy sector, and the impact on Iluméxico (29:00) The progress towards 100% electrification in Mexico by 2025 (30:45) About rural, remote communities in Mexico; low income, primarily indigenous communities; their current reliance on diesel and candles (33:40) Their experience in the Colombia; their work in Colombia with higher energy users (36:20) The need to build trust with rural communities; not taking any payments until devices are installed; avoiding affiliations with political entities (39:10) The biggest challenges within the off-grid energy sector (there are many!); the need to focus on portfolio management, ensuring high repayments from customers (43:30) Financing for Ilumexico, between debt, equity and grants; the unsuitability of VC funding in many contexts; the need for grants and subsidies to reach some of the most remote customers (47:00) How to ensure higher customer repayments; looking at data (but with limited results); customer segmentation and ensuring high quality customers; focus on service provision; the need for flexible payments (51:30) Their work around productive energy use: providing refrigeration services; agri-processing; connectivity; schools and health clinics (53:40) Their goals for the coming years: looking to expand to other countries in Latin America, other last-mile electrification opportunities even in the USA (56:50) Where the name Iluméxico comes from (59:15) What Manuel does when he's not working (1:03:00) Nancy Wimmer's Green Energy for a Billion Poor (1:04:00) Advice for an entrepreneur or investor (1:05:00) Predictions for the next 3-5 years: the significant impact of failure in the off-grid sector, the challenge of proving the off-grid business model; the potential for the future through partnerships

Last Mile Electrification and Energy Access in Mexico with Manuel Wiechers (Iluméxico)

We speak with Henry Louie, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Seattle, and author of 'Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries'. We discuss the technical considerations for off-grid electrical systems, common pitfalls or misunderstandings in off-grid energy systems, his work with the non-for-profit organisation 'KiloWatts for Humanity', and the importance of considering the potential negative impacts of well-meaning efforts. Recorded in May 2020 Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com Contact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com Show notes (1:30) Henry Louie's background, how he started working in the off-grid energy industry (6:00) Background to the textbook: intended audience, why he wrote the textbook, and the need for a single textbook to pull together the key technologies and concepts for off-grid energy sector (11:00) Typical sources of training for people working in the sector (14:30) Other types of training events that Henry Louie has provided, and what he typically covers (16:40) Factors to consider when selecting the generation source for off-grid systems (considering wind, diesel, solar etc.) (22:50) Common misconceptions or misunderstandings encountered in the sector (over-engineering systems, over-reliance on surveys to estimate electricity load) (29:20) His work with Kilowatts for Humanity (KWH); reasons they separated the non-profit from the university and the importance of ensuring long-term commitment to off-grid energy projects; the importance of using local installers; how to ensure sustainability of off-grid systems (37:50) Quick introductions to some electrical concepts: AC-DC coupling Load factor Grid tied inverters Bypass diodes (41:40) Process of writing the textbook (44:50) Other considerations for off-grid energy systems, e.g. use of donated equipment, ensuring the use of local installer companies and the need for capacity building, the potential unintended consequences of good intentions. (52:40) The choice of 'developing countries' for the title of his textbook (55:30) How to access a copy of the textbook (56:20) Where the name KWH came from (57:15) Recommended books: Out of Poverty by Paul Polak; The Impact of Electricity: Development, Desires and Dilemmas by Tanja Winter (59:15) Hopes for the off-grid sector in the next 5 years: the need to discuss e-waste; the ethics of switching off systems when payments are delayed.

Technical training for off-grid energy with Henry Louie (KiloWatts for Humanity / Seattle University)

We speak with Andreas Lehner, co-founder of Trine. Trine is a crowdfunding platform that enables retail and institutional investors to invest in off-grid solar projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. They provide debt financing for energy projects, and have raised over EUR36 million to date. We discuss debt finance to provide working capital for companies working in growing markets, the trends towards sustainable and impact investing, and why the global financial investment landscape needs to change.Recorded in May 2020Visit us at www.distributingsolar.comContact us at podcast@distributingsolar.comShow notes: (1:35) Andreas Lehner&#39;s background and how he came to start Trine(4:25) Trine: how does it work and what do they do(6:30) Alternatives to debt financing for solar in emerging markets: primarily high-interest inflexible funding from local banks, or philanthropy and donations(8:55) Trine&#39;s flexible financing approach, e.g. just-in-time financing, with more efficient deployment of capital (10:30) Offering match funding, co-funding with institutional investors, first-loss and guarantees to investors(15:45) Trine&#39;s early days and their plans for their coming years: how impact investing will become the new normal(18:40) Social and environmental impact of Trine&#39;s borrowers, in particular for BBOXX in the Solar Home System (SHS) space(21:30) Trine&#39;s partners, e.g. BBOXX, Greenlight Planet, Yellow Solar, Kingo, Daystar Power. How their partners work with Trine and the due diligence process (usually 2-3 months from start to finish)(26:30) How it works for retail investors(30:15) Trine&#39;s growth: balancing between both sides of the marketplace of borrowers and lenders(32:00) Their customers, repeated customers and investing behaviour(33:40) Geographical focus and countries they&#39;ve invested in; their interest in the mini-grid sector and West Africa(35:40) Learnings as a founder and a company(39:45) Merging commercial and retail investors; expanding to commercial and institutional funders to increase their impact(43:45) Trine&#39;s equity fundraising for themselves as a company(45:20) Trine&#39;s longer-term vision and plans(47:00) Andreas&#39; perspective on the sustainable and impact investment landscape; the need for a new way of investing (50:10) The impact of COVID-19 to date (as of May 2020) (53:00) Where Trine&#39;s name came from(53:45) Advice to an entrepreneur: focus on your customer; reach out if you want to learn something(56:40) Predictions for the next 5 years: consolidation in the off-grid sector; growth of the mini-grid sector; C&I sector; productive use of energy. 

Debt finance and impact investing with Andreas Lehner (Trine)

We speak with Richard Harrison, CEO of Smart Power Myanmar, a non-profit organization working to accelerate the adoption of decentralised renewables in Myanmar by providing data and evidence, convening key stakeholders, and offering financing solutions. We discuss the current energy landscape in Myanmar, the need for an integrated approach to electrification, the importance of offering financing solutions alongside electrification efforts, and the benefits of productive energy use. Recorded in May 2020Visit us at www.distributingsolar.com/podcast/smart-power-myanmarContact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com

Supporting electrification projects in Myanmar with Richard Harrison (Smart Power Myanmar)

In this episode, we speak with Leslie Labruto, Head of Energy Access at Acumen, about the equity investment landscape in off-grid solar. We discuss Solar Home Systems (SHSs), minigrids, impact investment, successful business models, and what makes a great investment for Acumen.Recorded in 2019Visit us at www.distributingsolar.comContact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com

Equity Investments in Off Grid Solar with Leslie Labruto (Acumen)

In this episode, we speak with Nicholai Lidow from LIB Solar about community solar in Liberia. We discuss the challenges of energy access and doing business in one of the poorest countries in the world, the trade-off between social and environmental impact, and the potential (and challenges) for productive energy use.Recorded in 2019Visit us at www.distributingsolar.comContact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com

Community Solar in Liberia with Nicholai Lidow (LIB Solar)

In this episode, we speak to Helen Davies from Futurepump, a solar water pump manufacturing company. Futurepump produces solar water pumps that are targeted at small holder farmers in Africa and Asia, enabling farmers to improve irrigation for their land. Recorded in 2019Visit us at www.distributingsolar.comContact us at podcast@distributingsolar.com

Solar Water Pumps with Helen Davies (Futurepump)

In this episode, we speak with Leslie Labruto, Head of Energy Access at Acumen, about the equity investment landscape in off-grid solar. We discuss Solar Home Systems (SHSs), minigrids, impact investment, successful business models, and what makes a great investment for Acumen.Contact us at podcast@charmimpact.com

In Distributing Solar, we speak to entrepreneurs and experts working in the off-grid solar industry in emerging markets, bringing to life the impact of distributed solar energy around the world.

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Distributing Solar

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