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M-KOPA Solar

Providing affordable solar power to homes without electricity. Customers buy the solar home system on an affordable payment plan, with an initial deposit followed by daily or weekly payments.

Getting to Grips with the Problem

Kerosene lamps are widely used for lighting in rural areas of Africa where most people are not on the National Grid. Using kerosene is inefficient, dangerous and expensive and has extensive health and environmental drawbacks. M-KOPA has connected over 600,000 homes to date with affordable solar power with 500 new homes being added everyday. Their customers will enjoy 75 million hours of kerosene-free lighting every month.

Developing the Design

GBD has helped to develop a range of household products which utilise machine-to-machine technology, remote sensor management, mobile payments and energy storage to enable their deployment into low income, off grid environments. Customers use M-KOPA's 'pay-as-you-go' solar model to access power for the first time and once a credit relationship is built enables the customer to make further purchases of productive assets.

Finding a Solution

GBD has designed a range of control units with integrated accessories. The basic 'Solar Home System' includes LED lights, USB phone chargers, a portable solar powered radio and a torch. Customers can upgrade the system which gives them more power and additional accessories including a DC TV and DC fridge.

Results

  • Winner of Zayed Future Energy Prize
  • Red Dot Award Winner
  • 75,000,000 hours of fume-free lighting per month
  • 780,000 Tonnes of CO2 reduced over 4 years
  • 2500 Jobs created in East Africa
  • Projected customer savings of US $450M over 4 years

Case Studies

A Selection of recent projects from across Consumer, Industrial and Medical industries. Read more to get an in-depth look into how these market-leading products are developed from conceptualising an idea to production-ready engineering.

York Instruments

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M-KOPA Solar

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JCB Tools

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Dialog Devices

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Stiltz Domestic Lift

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GoKart

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Bioquell

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Insect Light Trap Range

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Sure Hands Body Support

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Flintec

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