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| Azuri's Quad, the next generation in PayGo solar systems for rural off-grid homes. (Source: Azuri Technologies) |
At the Solar & Off-Grid Renewables West Africa Event, Azuri Technologies, a commercial provider of PayGo solar homes systems to rural off-grid communities, announced a partnership with local energy company Oasis African Resources to offer affordable, pays-as-you-go solar power to 100,000 off-grid homes in Ghana over the next two years. The project is supported by the Ministry of Power.
The Ghanaian government is currently striving to bring reliable, renewable power to its people because the nation has been suffering from intense energy crisis for a long period. Both business and urban residential populations are experiencing rolling blackouts of 24 or more. Rural regions where have no access to grids are rougher – about 5 million people in rural Ghana live with neither enough power nor sufficient lighting.
To overcome the nationwide problem, the Government launches programs to introduce power to these regions. The latest deployment plan will focus on cocoa farming regions, and be distributed in association with agricultural co-operatives and women-based organizations. The large-scale roll-out builds on previous pilot deployments in Ghana, which have proven the success of this solution for rural Ghanaians over the last 18 months.
The project will deploy Azuri’s flagship product Quad, and include 4 high-quality LED lamps, mobile phone charging and a Radio/MP3 player. Crucially, instead of an upfront cost, the system can be purchased through a Pay-As-You-Go model. This model allows people to use the systems while paying for it by the regular purchase of top-up credit, typically costing less than the lighting costs and phone charging fees being replaced.
“Azuri’s Quad solar home system brings affordable power to rural households and provides the starting point for families to embrace clean renewable power and ultimately to access power for economic gain,” said Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri.
The Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, commented, “This initiative supports the Government’s commitment to fully incorporate renewable energy into our energy supply mix, as outlined by the President during his State of the Nation’s Address.”