By Paul Tarsey Director, Account Management Europe, Aeris
As I dig out my passport and double check it hasn’t expired, it’s almost time to head to Rwanda for my fifth GOGLA Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo.
Energy Access has always been my go-to use case for IoT, as it showcases the real-world impact the technology can deliver. Ten years ago, at my first GOGLA event, Solar Home Systems dominated every conversation. Today, the landscape has expanded dramatically: clean cooking, biomass digesters, e-mobility, cooling and refrigeration, water pumping, irrigation and countless other applications are now being scaled, optimised and enabled through IoT.
According to the latest UN figures, more than 650 million people globally still lack access to electricity, while over 2 billion people continue to rely on polluting fuels such as charcoal, kerosene and firewood for cooking. Nowhere is this more prevalent than Sub-Saharan Africa, with some markets thriving, while others continue to struggle to gain momentum.
What’s worrying is the gap is widening, particularly for rural communities. To achieve SDG7 by 2030, the current pace of electrification would need to triple. Clean cooking faces a similar challenge: 44% of rural populations still lack access to clean cooking solutions, compared to 11% in urban areas, contributing to an estimated 3 million deaths every year.
This blog isn’t an attempt to untangle the full spider’s web of why these gaps exist (insert Charlie Day It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme). As a Sports Science graduate who happened to fall into IoT 15 years ago, I’m not pretending to have the answers. Although, what I have seen first-hand, is how IoT and technology are steadily helping remove barriers to scale and efficiency, enabling millions more people to access something many of us take for granted: the flick of a switch or the turn of a hob.
Scaling Across Markets
Many providers operate across multiple countries to achieve scale, but doing so introduces regulatory, logistical and operational challenges. A way companies minimise these impacts is by reducing product SKUs, which is where global IoT solutions can play a major role.
Whether operating East to West, rural to urban, and with a tapestry of MNO coverage, reliable connectivity is vital to create a smooth out-of-the-box customer experience. This simplifies deployments for providers and builds in failovers for those inevitable localised outages and issues.
From “I Bought a Product” to “My Product Makes Me Money”
At their core, Energy Access solutions are still about replacing polluting fuels like charcoal, kerosene and firewood. But one of the most encouraging developments has been seeing how customers use these products to generate income and build businesses of their own.
This concept of “productive use” goes far beyond the classic example of powering a barber shop with a Solar Home System and some clippers, something I could only dream of appreciating! Today, these solutions are supporting bars, restaurants, retail, agriculture, construction, delivery services, e-mobility businesses and much more.
GOGLA estimates that productive use technologies have supported close to 7 million people and unlocked around $10 billion in additional income since 2010. That’s where Energy Access shifts from powering homes to powering local economies and accelerating impact.
But What Happens to All That Data?
There’s no escaping the reality that the Energy Access sector serves some of the World’s lowest-income households. Nearly half of households purchasing solar appliances describe repayments as burdensome, yet upfront purchases are often impossible, leaving PayGo models as the only viable route to access.
This is where data becomes incredibly valuable.
Used strategically, IoT, payment and usage data can help unlock financing, grants and more affordable products. Payment behaviour can be analysed to reduce default rates. Devices can be remotely monitored and maintained, lowering operational costs and improving reliability.
For me, though, the biggest opportunity lies in impact data.
We’ve all seen the scrutiny surrounding carbon credits and clean cooking projects. Detailed, auditable usage data has the potential to transform accountability in the sector, ensuring vital funding reaches projects delivering genuine impact and giving initiatives a far greater chance of contributing meaningfully to SDG7. For the sector to be successful, it needs to be an ecosystem that’s transparent, impactful, and slightly controversially, profitable.
Summary
IoT is not the silver bullet for every challenge facing the Energy Access sector, and it’s certainly not viable for a significant proportion of the applications today, but after 15 years in the industry, I can say it remains one of the most rewarding and interesting sectors to be a part of, its opened my eyes to the challenges beyond my doorstep and some of the fantastic people trying to solve them.
I’m looking forward to catching up with familiar faces and meeting plenty of new ones in Kigali next month. If you’re attending GOGLA, come and say Muraho!
