M-Kopa: Kenya's pay-as-you-go solar power hub

This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online

In Kenya, 70 per cent of all citizens -- seven million homes -- live off the electric grid. Canadian entrepreneur Jesse Moore (pictured) wants to help, so he built M-KOPA, a pay-as-you-go solar-power system. "Our idea was if we can sell a solar system on credit, it will be far cheaper and cleaner than kerosene," Moore explains. "You provide a down payment of $30 [£20], and take home an 8W solar panel and a plug-and-play lighting and charging unit." Since launching in October 2012, M-KOPA, which has partnered with Kenyan mobiles operator Safaricom and mobiles money service M-Pesa, has sold its system to 200,000 homes across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and is growing at a rate of 15,000 new homes a month.

Moore, 36, says he is not pushing M-KOPA as an environmental alternative -- the use of kerosene is purely uneconomical. "Each household spends about five per cent of its income, roughly 63 cents a day, on kerosene, and they still have to go to a shop to charge their phoness for another 20 cents a day," Moore says. In M-KOPA's case, once $200 of credit has been paid through the system, the household owns a unit permanently.

With $40 million in funding from a mixture of venture capitalists, debt financiers and grants from nonprofits such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Moore's plan is to grow into markets such as Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines -- any country with sunshine and a need for power. "This is going to be a multi-billion-dollar industry," he says."So many people want affordable solar power and the grid won't be their solution. This industry is unfolding in real-time."

What's in the M-KOPA box

  • Two LED lights with switches and brightness settings
  • A4-sized 8W solar panel that fits on a roof
  • Control box with Li-ion battery, SIM card and modem
  • USB port and charging ports for four LED lights
  • A portable solar-powered torch light and a radio

This article was originally published by WIRED UK