Wisolar CEO Wants Solar as Commonplace as Your Home WiFi

 

 

 

The importance of renewable energy cannot be overstated for a sustainable world fit for all to live in. The adoption of renewable energy is an important measure for addressing climate change and mitigating the consequences of the phenomenon that our world is currently experiencing.

All across the world, there is a growing global consciousness that nations need to move away from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, hydropower, and geothermal energy.

As of 2021, according to Statista, the leading countries in the adoption of renewable energy are China, the U.S., and Brazil, with China leading the way with renewable energy installations with a capacity of around 1,020 gigawatts and the U.S. in second place with a capacity of around 325 gigawatts.

The situation in Africa

In Africa, the adoption of and move to renewable energy has been somewhat slow, with many African countries still battling with a myriad of issues in energy generation. The move to clean energy is therefore not a top priority on the agenda of many African countries. This, however, does not mean there aren’t strides being made on the continent in this regard.

A number of African countries are forging ahead in shifting focus from degradable sources of energy generation to clean energy sources. Top on the list in Africa are Mozambique, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Kenya.

South Africa has been caught in the middle of a difficult transition to clean energy, which has been exacerbated by frequent power outages and coal-fired power plant breakdowns.

According to Energy Capital Power, about 30 countries generate over 70% of their energy from renewable sources and about five sourcing less than 10%. With Africa endowed with a huge potential for green energy sources, such as its estimated 10 TW of solar capacity, 350 GW of hydropower, and 110 GW of wind power, the continent thus has enough to be at the forefront of renewable energy generation.

The need to have African nations scale up their clean energy is paramount to the continent’s success. While its contributions to climate change are negligible, accounting for only about 6% of global energy demand, it does need to ramp up its clean energy adoption as a major boost to eradicating poverty and providing more than 600 million people without access to electricity and clean cooking solutions with easy access to an important ingredient in improving their quality of life.

It is in this drive that the efforts of clean energy startups like WiSolar come through and are commendable.

WiSolar’s Prepaid Solar Electrification Efforts

WiSolar, the green digital energy provision company based in South Africa with a pan-African posture, has been making commendable strides in a drive to increase the adoption of solar electricity within residential communities, first across South Africa and then other African countries.

WiSolar has its eyes on delivering up to 80 MW of solar power across residential developments in South Africa over the next 4 years. An ambitious plan, no doubt, but one that is not impossible.

Its strategy is to improve access to electricity by assisting municipalities in using solar-as-a-service technology for affordable housing, with the goal of meeting critical SDG goals.

This is done through WiGo, its proprietary solar electricity vending app, through which users can access and purchase prepaid solar electricity units.

WiSolar, as a clean energy utility service provider, is also addressing the skills gap between theoretical electrical engineering and practical solar engineering. Also, the integration chasm between electrical, hardware, and software engineering.

The company has been investing heavily in the training and development of its employees and interns, providing healthy compensation plans.

It is currently the largest residential solar electricity company in South Africa, with solar installers and channel partners in every province of South Africa and a pan-African vision.

It has continued to power new and existing developments and provide prepaid solar electricity. It also offers solar financing for single residential installations through its integrated partnership with Nedbank.

 

WiSolar’s Value Proposition With Its Prepaid Solar Electricity Provision

For its solar electricity, the green energy utility recently pioneered a prepaid, pay as you go system. According to the clean energy startup, prepaid solar electricity will remove the high cost, inconvenience, friction, and fragmentation associated with residential solar installs for homeowners.

New homes in residential communities will come already kitted out with on-demand solar electricity using the WiSolar prepaid app. This is particularly attractive to Generation Y and Z (the Uber generation), with Generation Z coming online with on-demand preferences.

 

Understanding WiSolar’s Business Model

WiSolar is a multi-sided business. Its business model includes license subscriptions and hardware sales. WiSolar started off by offering zero onboarding fees for the first 1,000 partner installers on its platform and thereafter began charging subsequent partner installers a subscription fee.

The company recorded over a thousand downloads for the WiGo prepaid solar service within a month of its August 2022 launch.

Meet Tonye Irims, the Nigerian Behind WiSolar

Born in 1970, Irims studied clean power at Imperial College London, and he is a University of Port Harcourt alumni.

Irims is a product architect and inventor best known for his pioneering work in prepaid solar electricity for variable loads. He is the founder and CEO of WiSolar, one of the fastest-growing solar electricity companies in South Africa.

His father, Capt. B.T Irimagha, was a former master mariner, and his late mother, Muriel Irimagha, a businesswoman of Royal Bonny Kingdom descent.

After two failed business stincts, the first WiMobile (2006), and then FriendsChip (2011), a social payment platform he launched in Texas, U.S. Irims hit on the idea of solar electricity provision and based on his academic background, he hit the ground running with the idea in 2016.

Although the journey has been long and winding with him almost selling off its single outlet in the early days, help came along the way and the startup has continued to record a number of significant strides over time. One of this is the launch of its WiGo app, a prepaid solar-as-a-service platform.

Speaking recently on his company’s mission, he said, “At WiSolar, we are on a mission to provide low-cost, clean, and on-demand electricity in Africa. We are transforming the way our world is powered with solar electricity for everyone. We want to make solar electricity accessible, and just as affordable as your home WiFi.”

The Pioneering Brand With a Number of Firsts

Till date, over 500 merchant partners have signed up on the WiSolar app. This is a testament to the game-changing nature of the service. In 2017, WiSolar set the standard with solar packages and was the first to introduce integrated solar financing in South Africa in 2020. Now, with its green digital utility technologies for prepaid solar electricity, it is set to play a big role in the move to clean and affordable energy for Africans.

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