Arnergy develops revolutionary PayGo solar solution built on IOT platform

Arnergy Solar Limited is revolutionising PayGo solar delivery in Nigeria with the launch of a platform that allows anyone who is interested to become a power company based on an Internet of Things (IoT) enabled technology.

“What we have decided to do is build a platform to bring everybody on board; existing solar players, be it an inverter supplier, solar panel manufacturers, even those in oil and gas, to create a system that provide power to our people,” Femi Adeyemo, co-founder of Arnergy Solar Ltd told BusinessDay on Tuesday.

How it works

The company is signing on channel managers, regardless of training and discipline who can become resellers after acquiring the system. The process is a tad similar to a franchising model, only you retain your identity while the company provides backend support.

Individuals or companies can acquire the system and provide power to residential buildings and small businesses from a few houses to more than a dozen, depending on capacity.

“The good thing is that we have a platform that is scalable as many distributors that are coming on that platform, they will be able to monitor their business, monitor their sales and usage wherever the systems are located anywhere in the world,” says Kunle Odebunmi, a co-founder of Arnergy Solar Ltd.

Adeyemo adds, “It is based on Internet of Things, just log on to the portal, you can monitor how many users there are on the system, how much power the system is generating for the company.”

Arnergy says the next phase of offgrid market growth is providing power for productive uses and it wants to be the poster child. It is already serving pharmacy stores in Lagos, a hospital in Bayelsa in partnership with GE and some bank ATM machines.

Flexible pricing options

The company has created flexible pricing options for different power needs ranging from 300 watts to 5KVA. Prices vary depending on mode of acquisition – lease, outright purchase and purchase by paying in instalments.

Lease facility for end users on 300watts pay N3,300 monthly, 1KVA system users pay N12,500 monthly, equivalent to paying N500 daily for a petrol generator. The lease for 2KVA system is N18,000 per month, 3KVA goes for N36,000 monthly while 5KVA systems goes for N69,000 monthly. End users do not pay additional cost for maintenance and replacement of defective parts. Those who want outright purchase pay higher for the system.

What it means for the off grid market in Nigeria?

Currently valued at over $9billion, Nigeria’s off grid market will yet further grow with the introduction of more technology-enabled systems. It also opens up the sector for more collaborations as operators do not ‘need to reinvent the wheel with our solution,’ says Arnergy Ltd.

So far, 25 channel managers have signed on and the service is projected to reach 3,000 end-users by the end of the first quarter of this year. “So what we are now saying is that let’s bring in the financial companies, the DFIs, the business man that has money to play in the power business, everyone can now be in the power business,” says Adeyemo.

However the company ensures only credible partners come on board, “We carry out checks and require that channel managers have an existing business with a track record of good performance. We carry out due diligence to ensure we are dealing with credible people,” says Odebunmi.

ISAAC ANYAOGU