This off-grid project provides a pay per use battery rental service, charged by solar power hubs, to give consumers daily household energy on a flexible basis.

This solution offers a lower cost and lower carbon model than local alternatives, which include petrol motorbikes, petrol generators and disposable battery-powered torches.

The next step is to introduce cleaner generators and e-mobility across Africa.

As of September 2022, this Mobile Power project had 500,000 monthly rentals across several countries, connecting over 220,000 people to clean energy for the first time and with an installed renewable energy capacity of 0.62MW. The company hosts 165 hubs, of which almost 90 were installed in 2022 alone.

Where the company operates with local partners, these are communities (homes and businesses) and motorbike taxi drivers renting the batteries.

“Through the project’s innovative rental model, customers rent smart lithium-ion batteries at low cost and in 24-hour increments, making it easier for low-income households and businesses to access electricity as and when needed.”

MOPO Batteries are managed by MOPO Agents, who earn commission on their portfolio of battery rentals. At the same time, an in-house Mobile Power team carries out the EPC and O&M of the hubs and battery portfolio.

The solar-powered MOPO Hubs offer two rental types: a 50Wh and a 1kWh battery for household, commercial and e-mobility use.

The solution benefits over 50,000 active customers and has seen over 10 million rentals in four countries, with 12% month-on-month revenue growth in 2022. Camco-managed REPP led the Series A funding, and since then, Reinhart and All-on (Shell funded) joined the numerous international and local partnerships supporting the project.

An interesting lesson is that bottom-of-the-pyramid customers don’t use energy every day. On average, domestic battery rentals per user equate to one rental every five days, evidencing the benefit of Mobile Power’s flexible business model to customers with low disposable income. ESI