What is Azuri PayGo Energy?

Azuri PayGo Energy has combined solar and mobile phone technology to bring clean energy to people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The pay-as-you-go solar home system provides eight hours of emission-free lighting each day and enough power to charge mobile phones.

What is a pay-as-you-go solar home system?

The pay-as-you-go solar home system provides eight hours of emission-free lighting each day and enough power to charge mobile phones. After paying a small one-time installation fee, the user then purchases a scratch card, or uses an integrated mobile money service to top-up their unit.

Does PAYG work in Africa?

In the past five years, the PAYG model has grown impressively in the sub-Saharan African energy sector, both in terms of the number of new companies employing it, and in the number of customers using PAYG services. Some form of PAYG energy service is already available in 14 African countries,4 with the most advanced market in East Africa.

How much does a pay-as-you-go solar charger cost?

With a Pay-As-You-Go model (PAYG) for solar kits, on the other hand, customers can instead pay an up-front fee ofaround $10 for a solar charger kit that includes a two- to five-watt solar panel and a control unit that powers LED lights and charges devices like mobile phones.

Why is PAYG growing in Africa?

In the past five years, the PAYG model has grown impressively in the sub-Saharan African energy sector and attracted huge investments, as an increasingly large community of foreign investors has become interested in it. What are the drivers of this growth? Is PAYG the game changer that will finally push Africa to climb up the energy ladder?

Is solar PAYG a commodity?

While the hardware behind the solar PAYG model (namely the photovoltaic and battery technologies) has already become a commodity, with most of the solar product commercialized in Africa imported from China, there is still an opportunity for innovation in both product design and software.