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SolarCity co-founders Lyndon Rive and Peter Rive are back on the grid.
The two brothers, who left their former solar utility company in mid-2017 after joining the Tesla Energy division, were named president and operational and technology advisor respectively of the fast-growing company Solar-Plus- Storage, called Zola Electric.
There are two reasons why this business is not exactly a household name. First, it has recently undergone a brand change: it was formerly known as Off Grid Electric, but it has proven difficult to defend with brand lawyers. Secondly, its goal is to improve access to energy in emerging economies, starting with Africa.
"We offer technically advanced solutions in which the network is unreliable or unaffordable," said Bill Lenihan, CEO of Zola, earlier this week.
What is now known as Zola (a Swahili word meaning "solar") made its debut in Tanzania about seven years ago when founders Xavier Helgesen, Erica Mackey and Joshua Pierce created an organization dedicated to providing cleaner fuel, instead of kerosene. His system combines solar production with batteries (more details in a moment). Lenihan was co-CEO with Helgesen until this week, when he was appointed technical director and Lenihan took sole responsibility as managing director. Lenihan has a background in private equity.
The company's mission has evolved considerably since (learn from "mistakes after mistakes", as Lenihan said). It is useful for Zola to raise more than $ 100 million from companies like DBL Ventures, Omidyar Network, Helio Partners (an African fund that is its largest backer) and energy companies EDF and Total.
This is where the Rive brothers come on the scene: both made personal investments very early, Lyndon told me. And yes, both were born in South Africa, just like their famous cousin, Elon Musk. Here is Lyndon's official statement about his appointment as president: "After witnessing and investing in Zola Electric's impressive growth for many years, I look forward to playing a bigger role as the company continues to democratize renewable energy globally Zola's business model and technology platform will enable countries around the world to move beyond the grid. "
Zola does not sell electricity as a service, but has created a business model where customers pay for their system over time: between $ 15 and $ 35 per month via a digital microfinance platform. Finally, they "own" the material. To date, it has more than 200,000 installations in homes and businesses (such as kiosks, pubs and restaurants) in five African countries: Tanzania; Rwanda; Ivory Coast; Ghana; and Nigeria.
The Zola system is designed as a main source of electricity, defaulting to the grid when it is available. According to Lenihan and Rive, this is a way for individuals and businesses to gain independence in an environment characterized by daily network failures. The system replaces diesel generators, which are commonly used as an emergency option. Switching between generators and the network is traditionally a very manual process; Another advantage of Zola's technology is that it handles this automatically, they said.
"The market in Africa and the understanding of electricity by customers far outnumber most Americans," said Lyndon Rive. "When you have an environment in which electricity is always cut off, the customer becomes very aware of energy."
Zola's loads are not as heavy: the technology typically supports lighting, radios, small fans, and electronic chargers. Zola works to heavier loads, such as air conditioners, refrigerators and power tools (such as saws or drills).
Peter Rive's role at Zola will be to contribute to the intelligence of the software used by Zola's equipment to interact with the network, as well as refine components over time. Zola's story is also troubled by the fact that a growing part of the design, configuration and badembly of systems is being done "in the country" – Zola now employs more than 1,000 people in Africa, said Lenihan.
Where next? This year's big target will be the extremely complex Nigerian energy sector, said Lenihan: "No other market is so upset."
The rise of Zola is further evidence of the value of decentralized production and innovation that would not be possible in a system such as the United States, where many electricity consumers could not probably not tell you how much electricity they use monthly basis. Countries such as Africa have a real opportunity to leapfrog into the more established economies of off-grid electricity adoption. (Hence the original name of the company.)
Nancy Pfund, a venture capital investment company, spoke to me about this company last fall as we discussed her company's investments that made her pay the most for 2019. Now As the co-founders of SolarCity are involved, look at this business – and others like it – even more closely.
Interestingly, Accenture released research this week indicating that 95% of North American utilities recognize the disruptive power of distributed generation – and are actively looking for ways to generate profits. "The mbadive adoption of electric vehicles and the electrification of building heating are on the cusp of changing demand growth and the shape of the load in the long run," said Stephanie Jamison, general manager of # 39; Accenture, in a statement badyzing the results. "The key will be managing this disruption by making the network more resilient through increased use of smart technologies and all sources of flexibility, including on the demand side, by taking a more customer-centric approach." . "
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