Africa has a continuously growing middle class. Shopping malls, restaurants and shops are popping up all over Africa. But still electricity is a major factor is enabling local businesses and African countries to have access to global markets.

Our business model focuses on 30% of the electricity demand, on cooling. The demand for cooling and electricity far exceeds the production. Our technology is powered by solar, an unlimited and grid-independent source. It has the potential to be a game changer with a remarkable economic impact for developing countries.

Today solar modules are more and more of a commodity: cheap and available all over the world. Unfortunately, a grid for powerful applications cannot be generated from photovoltaic power alone, largely due to the lack of 24-hour access to the source. To store electricity is a few times more expensive than producing electrical power by solar.

Our solution enables photovoltaic to directly drive cooling units. Combining photovoltaic powered cooling with our ice storage systems is a competitive way to swap to renewables. Ice storage avoids complicated electrical storage systems. It requires much less maintenance and has no limited life span.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2018
Note: PPP is purchasing power parity.

Some key facts:

Private sector

800,000,000 African people without electricity
5% annual market growth in Africa
5% increasing annual electricity demand in Africa
40% wastage of agriculture goods in Africa due to lack of cooling
3-4 times higher selling prices in cities than in rural areas

Industrial sector

30% of electricity is used for cooling
Payback period of investment for solar combined with ice storage less than 3 years
Average electricity costs in Africa:
On-grid 0,15 USD/kWh
Off-grid 0,40 USD/kWh
Rapidly increasing prices all over the continent

Average electicity production and storage costs by solar and ice storage

0,02 – 0.10 USD/kWh (production)
0,02 – 0.15 USD/kWh (production)
Prices are mainly dependent on project size and investment period
Decreasing prices due to growing production rates and decreasing material costs

Sample cases:

Due to frequent power shortages, an internationally-owned flower farm in sub-Saharan Africa burns 200,000 liters of diesel per year to run generators. A large share of the electricity is used for chilled packing houses. Energy costs for commercial farmers all over sub-Saharan Africa are an incalculable factor; they are increasing every year and have a significant impact on businesses.