Summary

By combining concepts, principles and tools of appropriate technology and social entrepreneurship
adjusted to the local context we will be able to implement an innovative energy access ecosystem for
powering microenterprise development that could reasonably achieve profitability and is feasible to
install, operate and replicate. The ecosystem is an innovative solar energy charging kit with high capacity
to power large electronics and designed to be useable as a cell phone charging station business in itself.
Our initial market is the growing demand for mobile phone charging stations in developing countries
with a future shift to microbusiness with greater energy demand.

Product/Service
As of today, more than 1.6 billon of people worldwide dont have access to electrical energy. Access to
electric energy has been directly related to economic development and important quality of life factors
such as health and wellbeing. Despite having very limited access to energy, around 50% of people in the
developing world have mobile phones and are faced with the difficulty of travelling long distances and
paying high prices to charge the electronics they have. We want to solve this by developing high capacity
solar charging kits that will be sold to community citizens looking to become small business owners. Our
kits have the ability to charge around 144 cell phones a day; 8 at a time and having features such as a
240W solar panel, quick cell phone charging time and high capacity dual 12V, 100Ah batteries. Upon
ownership of these kits, the small business owners will provide the cell phone charging service at local
market price, satisfying a portion of the energy demand. Our model will continue to expand until the
effect of these kits will not only be to provide energy service to the area but empower the community
and stimulate economic development; generating market growth and diversity. We are hoping to
incorporate these kits in the development a micro-grid to power the community in the future. We are
looking to take advantage of the development of monetarily transactions using mobile phones, proven
successful in countries such as Kenya, Africa and which has been highly funded in Haiti by the Gates
Foundation. Our companys vision is to combine concepts and tools of appropriate technology and social
entrepreneurship to implement an innovative energy access ecosystem that is profitable and feasible to
install, operate and replicate; resulting in clean energy access for all.
Target Market and Customer
The amount of people with no access to electric energy in Haiti is 8 million; 29 million in Latin America
and 590 million in the African Continent. The International Energy Agency estimates that an investment
of $35 billion a year is needed to provide universal access to all by 2030. Providing electric energy to
those in remote rural areas is expected to become a global multimillion dollar business. However,
dissonance of major investment companies with small rural markets and the complexity of social
dynamics has prevented that a significant amount of funds be dedicated to exploit this market. The
typical employment for a person with limited access to energy is to work in the agriculture sector for a
small wage or have a small product business. Lack of energy limits economic growth worldwide, and this
is our market whose problem we want to solve. Our initial market will be Duchity, Haiti to take
advantage of our teams 3 year experience working with local nonprofits and community leaders. We
have conducted on-site market research in Duchity and have insight on the energy use and cost for
mobile phones. Mobile phone owners in Duchity spend up to 10% of their income on cell phone
charging alone. There are around 8 small businesses which provide the service and have a monthly cost
of $130 in fuel for their generator. Our kit can lower it to $90 in rental; a 27% savings. These could offer
the charge at 15 cents (25% lower price) and still be profitable, lowering the burden on citizens. Since
our customer has limited capital, microlending is a financing opportunity. Existing crowdfunding sites
like kiva.org can help provide loans to customers looking to start a clean energy business and have been
proven successful in Haiti with a 100% repayment rate.
Competitive Landscape
Currently there is no company providing individual energy generating kits for the aspiring entrepreneur.
Kits produced are smaller capacity for personal use. Companies providing personal solar energy kits are
Grameen Shakti in India, M-Kopa in Africa, and Earthspark International in Haiti. Earthspark's kits are
produced by Barefoot Power, a company which designs them in Australia and manufactures in China.
Earthspark works in Port Au Prince and Les Anglais areas and its model focuses on developing local
entrepreneurs from the selling of clean energy. Due to the large need for energy in Haiti and shared
company interests; there is an opportunity for collaboration with them. Our president has met with
them and even visited their microgrid, working on identifying collaboration opportunities. Inside the
Duchity region, there are around 8 small business owners who make a business out of charging cell
phones. These charge 25-35 cents per cell phone charge which is around $120 per kWh. With our kits, a
charge as low as 15 cents per charge is still profitable to the business owner; a competitive advantage
the entrepreneurs will have. The price per kWh will be dictated by the entrepreneur and affected as
more enter, but since there is almost no access to electrical energy in the region, market saturation is a
low risk. This would be a new product with a potential to be successful and quickly taken in by the
regions citizens; and will stimulate economic development and further mobile phone technology. We
have also found potential in marketing to the developed world. A solar kit of this capacity is sold to
camping aficionados by GoalZero, a company based in Utah. Our kit, capacity for capacity is 45 % lower
cost than what they offer; casting an opening for marketability to other markets as well.
Execution
We have worked on initial calculations and design for the kit prototypes done remote and on-site
market research and designed innovative financing strategies and initial supply chain logistics. Our
team's President has travelled to Haiti and surveyed the population to gain insight on our initial test
market. In Haiti, we have also made contact with Earthspark international and visited their microgrid. He
has also been contacted and followed up on the opportunity to enter a market in Peru. We have
researched the current global energy market and competitors and used this information to design a
better product and identify financing strategies and funding opportunities. Our team based in the
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagez will have an environment rich in knowledge and potential for
innovation. We have identified potential suppliers for the kit components and singled out the ones that
are cost effective to produce locally. The charge control is one of these components and we've made
initial contact to the manufacturing lab at UPRM for possible partnership. Assembly of the principal kit
components is also an opportunity for creating employment in Puerto Rico. The next step in the
technology development is to create a prototype of the energy generating kit. The prototype cost is
expected to be around $800 with a timeline for initial test market of 3 months. After the prototype has
been completed, component design and cost reducing strategies will continue for a period of 3 months
until we have achieved the target kit cost of $600 and improved based on market feedback . Our next
steps will be to continue developing alliances and identify initial commission based employees and a
selected number of entrepreneur clients. Our employee will have the task of finding candidates to
purchase the solar charging stations and become entrepreneurs.
Management Team
The team is composed of Marcel Castro, Electrical Engineering professor at URPM with extensive
research experience in the area of rural electrification and well connected to NGOs, internationally and
locally. We also have an Industrial Engineering student, Anned Vargas with co-op experience in sourcing
strategy and supply chain and with an educational development in cost analysis, accounting, quality
control, and project management. Carlos Wah is an Electrical Engineering Master's student with
experience in renewable energy research and who has worked on projects involving community and
commercial power technologies. The team was brought together by an appropriate technology course
the professor offered and is motivated by a passion to use their engineering expertise to provide energy
access to all. Marcel will have the role of president and in charge of obtaining capital and partnerships
with communities in Haiti and collaborating organizations. Anned will be the effective CFO taking the
main role of day to day operations in charge of the supply chain strategy and cost reductions/ financial
management strategies. Carlos will be the power engineer in charge of identifying opportunities for
innovative design and possible technological development opportunities. We also count with the advice
from the Business and Economic Development Center at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagez and
mentorship of professor Patricia Valentn. Strategic collaborations with international organizations,
those working in Haiti and local service providers in Puerto Rico will provide initial support through an
advisory board. Some of these organizations are: EarthSpark International, Youthaiti, and Productive
Cooperatives-Haiti at the international level; Duchity Electric Power Committee and ENERSA in Haiti;
Energy Policy Solutions, and West Power Solutions in Puerto Rico. A multidisciplinary panel of professors
and experts on appropriate technology in the University from areas such as mechanical engineering,
community engagement and economic development will also integrate the advisory board.
Risk Analysis
The risks in this project include political issues, successful models have been found in partner with
existing organizations in the community for legal paperwork and categorization as well on site work. The
risks involving loss or damage to equipment bought will be addressed in the design strategy and in the
proper mentorship of owners and working members. To lower this, the full responsibility of the
equipment will be transferred to the small business owner to take care of the equipment with proper
training; the financial motivation will also motivate the individual to preserve their investment. The
possible risk of non-payment is very low and is in the nature of rental, similar projects in this market
have proven that community members are very honest and respond to this kind of opportunity. To
lower this risk, we have the option of including the rental price in the microfinancing strategy for the
entrepreneur, receiving several month's rental upfront before delivering the kit. Low energy demand is
not considered a risk, the availability for this technology could be an opportunity to collaborate with the
mobile phone companies, effectively incrementing the market. The cash transactions involved in this
project could be a challenge. We will address this through our collaboration with established community
organizations and effective employee identification. Possible opportunities for electronic transaction
between countries represent an important source of technology innovation. This is an area of interest
and investment that has examples in Haiti and Africa of functioning systems and has local government
support and funding from different organizations.
Business Model(Financials)
We will rent the functional kits to the entrepreneurs for an initial cost of $100 per kit and subsequent
monthly payments of $90 for the period of one year, after which, the entrepreneur can buy the kit for
$200. Microlending will help achieve this; we will establish partnerships with crowdfunding websites and
community organizations to achieve this successfully. Collaboration with existing organizations in the
area is crucial, these will help with aspects ranging from legal documentation to transactions and
customer delivery; and we will assist them in their goals. In Haiti, we are exploring ways to collaborate
with Earthspark based on their existing model and connections. Additional revenue sources include
grants from international organizations such as the Inter American Development bank that we are
eligible for because of the humanitarian nature of our project. We are looking to collaborate with cell
phone providers because of the cell phone and mobile technology development potential, and have
identified Digicell in the case of Haiti as a potential partner. Possible initial customers for Haiti are the
entrepreneurs surveyed. After the energy demand for cell phone charging in Duchity has been met; we
will expand to neighboring regions and countries for potential revenues of $50,000 and $76,000 in the
second and third years. Our employee structure consists of 3 salaried employees for a total of $25,000 a
year; and commission employees in Haiti for 20% payable only when sales occur and monthly payments
are received. These commission employees will be trained for maintenance and inspection of
equipment. The kits will be assembled in Puerto Rico for an estimated 2 jobs created. To enter the
international market we will establish an effective webpage and have an advantage of selling the kits at
a lower price than similar products.