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Levinson
spent about ten years in clean energy before launching SunFunder, first
doing policy work for a non-profit in Washington, D.C.
Anne Field
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I cover for-profit social enterprises and the people who fund them
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Startup Social Entrepreneurs Help Finance Solar Power Social Enterprises
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The mindbogglingly large number of people in the world–1.3
billion–without access to electricity is providing a growing market
opportunity for a lot of social entrepreneurs. I just wrote about one, Nokero, selling solar-powered light bulbs.
But SunFunder, another fledgling venture, takes a very different approach: It’s helping sellers of solar-powered lighting systems based mostly in Africa, India and other developing countries find funding.
Levinson spent about ten years in clean energy before launching SunFunder, first doing policy work for a non-profit in Washington, D.C. and then helping to build an environmental finance group for Wells Fargo WFC 0%, which as of now, according to Levinson, has invested around $1 billion in solar projects. When he left, he spent his time traveling in South East Asia and India, becoming more and more convinced he could help find a “business solution to clean energy and climate change,” he says.
In the process, he also became increasingly aware of a few other things. First was just how many people he encountered in his travels without access to electricity both for lighting and for cell phone charging and the far-reaching negative consequences, from lack of safety to poor economic growth to just a really low standard of living.
The initial focus has been on East Africa which, “seems to be a hub for these business,” Levinson says. The plan is to move from East Africa to West Africa and India. Headquarters will remain in San Francisco, where, fundraising-wise, it makes sense to be. But ultimately Levinson hopes to fund “hundreds of millions of dollars of solar energy systems a year.”
Nokero’s bulb-shaped lantern-like LED lamp has an embedded solar panel, connected to a battery, that harvests energy.
N222, sells for $45 and can charge most cell phone or battery-powered devices via a USB charging port, as well as provide light.
http://nokero.com/
But SunFunder, another fledgling venture, takes a very different approach: It’s helping sellers of solar-powered lighting systems based mostly in Africa, India and other developing countries find funding.
The San Francisco-based company was co-founded
in 2012 by Ryan Levinson, who had been toying with the idea for a few
years before officially launching. Other founders include Audrey
Desiderato, who heads the company’s Tanzania-based operations, and
Sameer Halai, a designed who leads product and systems development.
The company focus is not only on solar power as a tool for providing
lighting in places without the infrastructure for electricity, but also
as a mechanism for charging cell phones. That is, SunFunder is after
helping communities get lighting and also improve their communications
and access to information through the use of mobile phones.
To that end, it targets two funding streams. One
is a crowdfunding site which lists individual projects that individuals
can loan money to, a la Kiva. Go to the home page and
you’ll see a listing for, for example, a $10,000 loan to an outfit
providing solar-powered lighting and cell phone charging to 600 families
in West Nile, Uganda (fully funded) and another for $20,000 for 1,232
more lights in a town in Zambia (also fully funded).
The other funding source is private, accredited and institutional
investors through something Levinson calls solar empowerment notes,
which, basically, are debt instruments.Levinson spent about ten years in clean energy before launching SunFunder, first doing policy work for a non-profit in Washington, D.C. and then helping to build an environmental finance group for Wells Fargo WFC 0%, which as of now, according to Levinson, has invested around $1 billion in solar projects. When he left, he spent his time traveling in South East Asia and India, becoming more and more convinced he could help find a “business solution to clean energy and climate change,” he says.
In the process, he also became increasingly aware of a few other things. First was just how many people he encountered in his travels without access to electricity both for lighting and for cell phone charging and the far-reaching negative consequences, from lack of safety to poor economic growth to just a really low standard of living.
Second was how, thanks to a new generation of
solar energy products designed for less-developed parts of the world,
solar energy had become affordable for consumers, even without the
government subsidies that have helped boost larger-scale projects in the
U.S. The small companies selling these products, however, lacked the
financing to grow their businesses. The answer, then, was to help them
get money. It was too ambitious a project for just himself, Levinson
knew, so he teamed up with his two co-founders.
The initial projects have been small-scale, at the same time that
they have “already changed people’s lives,” he says. But Levinson hopes
to help fund bigger off-grid systems, starting, for example, with
residential systems. They pose a big problem for companies getting
started because it’s capital-intensive, but customers usually pay
through an installment plan. As a result, the startups need a money
infusion upfront before their customers start paying their bills.
So far, the company has raised about $150,000
from over 590 funders in 37 countries through the web site. The average
loan is $200. And it just closed the first issue of notes, raising
$250,000 from several angel investors and a Netherlands-based
foundation. But with the growth of interest in impact investing, from
institutions to government agencies, SunFunder is hoping to start
ramping up its fund-raising quickly.
As for its own funding, the company initially was completely
bootstrapped. Last June, it raised about $500,000 from 14 angel
investors. (Just thinking about the effort that went into getting money
from all those people makes me tired). It also recently got a $25,000
grant from Facebook FB -0.48%,
an award it won for an idea to integrate “the social aspects of
Facebook into our web platform, to help drive investors,” says Levinson.
And it got about 20,000 euros from the government of Sweden.The initial focus has been on East Africa which, “seems to be a hub for these business,” Levinson says. The plan is to move from East Africa to West Africa and India. Headquarters will remain in San Francisco, where, fundraising-wise, it makes sense to be. But ultimately Levinson hopes to fund “hundreds of millions of dollars of solar energy systems a year.”
Some of the projects have been surprising even
for Levinson. For example, one company in Kenya he just encountered
installs solar powered street lights. Levinson says that one small
village was able to double economic activity in a market held at night,
thanks to a system installed last year. Says Levinson: “Now you can see
all kinds of activity, from lots of little shops to someone fixing
their motorcycle.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2013/10/20/a-social-entrepreneurs-inspiration-for-solar-powered-lighting/Nokero’s bulb-shaped lantern-like LED lamp has an embedded solar panel, connected to a battery, that harvests energy.
N222, sells for $45 and can charge most cell phone or battery-powered devices via a USB charging port, as well as provide light.
http://nokero.com/
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The Rise Of A Giant Solar Power Plant In California's Central Plain
A 250-megawatt solar power plant has risen from the beautiful Carrizo Plain in central California, a project that relied on a hefty federal loan guarantee and will help the state meet its renewable energy mandate.
The project’s builder, SunPower SPWR +10.04%, announced Thursday the completion of the California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo County. The project is located in a beautiful swath of land that is ringed by mountains and blooms with wildflowers in spring. Electricity from the field of solar panels will go to Pacific Gas and Electric customers.
California Valley Solar Ranch’s completion reflects the emergence of large-scale solar farms in a state that has an aggressive goal of sourcing 33% of its power supplies from renewable sources by 2020. Many such projects have been proposed over the past 8 years, and the state’s big three utilities have signed a slew of agreements to buy solar power from developers in order to meet the mandate.
But shepherding those projects from conception to completion proves a tough challenge for many developers. Raising money and securing permits have been the two main obstacles that caused some to stumble and sell their projects or leave the project development business all together.
Law lawsuits filed by environmental and community groups also have stalled projects or forced developers to modify their constructions plans and donate money for land conservation.
While solar energy is a cleaner source of power, its development does come at a cost to the environment. Large-scale projects take up thousands of acres and typically located in the remote corners of the state.
The fact is, project developers, utilities and state regulators all have been going through this steep learning curve to create a new power generation market that relies on sun to produce electricity. The biggest chunk of the state’s power comes from natural gas power plants.
SunPower negotiated with the Sierra Club and other groups and set aside land for wildlife protection so that it wouldn’t face legal battles while trying to secure permits for the California Valley Solar Ranch project. The project, occupying 4,700 acres, received a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee from a program that drew controversy for its $535 million loan guarantee to help Solyndra build a solar panel factory.
NRG Energy NRG -1.37% bought the project from SunPower in 2011 and hired SunPower to complete it. Construction began in the fall of that year. NRG is co-owner of another solar power plant in California — the Ivanpah project that is built and being brought online by BrightSource Energy.
Ivanpah also has benefited from the same federal
loan guarantee program. The program’s two other completed solar power
projects are the 280-megawatt Solana by Abengoa Solar in Arizona and the 150-megawatt Mesquite Solar project in Arizona by Sempra Generation.
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