Renewable and affordable energy to a million Pakistanis during next year’s goal for Brighterlite. Here is CIO Anders Skogen (from the left),
Chairman Erik Sauar and CEO Stein Eitrheim. Photo: Mikaela Berg.
Bringing solar power to Pakistan
By next year a million Pakistanis will charge their mobile using solar energy from the
Norwegian company, Brighterlite.
Ida Grieg Riisnæs
Published: 08.04.2015 — 21:55
Take one expert on solar energy, one on telecommunications and one on modeling. Mix with a dollop of
commerce and a dose of idealism. The result is Brighterlite.
With Telenor as partner Brighterlite is making an effort operating in Pakistan with around 190 million
inhabitants, where most have a mobile phone but no access to stable electricity.
By this summer over 10,000 Pakistanis will make electricity themselves as customers of Brighterlite. By the end of
next year, the goal is one million customers. Then it will be a good business as well.
Solar subscription
The product is a small battery box the size with a small laptop and a solar panel on half a square meter. With the
amount of four or five dollars a month, customers can subscribe to the box that provides enough power to charge
two mobile phones and three lamps. For just a few dollars extra the subscriber will have enough power to also
include a fan, a radio and a TV.
This means one gets more light for the money; light which today
are mostly produced by harmful and polluting kerosene.
- Solar power is far less expensive than kerosene lamps and oilbased local electricity production, but the initial investment is
high. Therefore is our solution subscription, says Erik Sauar,
former CTO of Solar Energy Rec.
Revolution
During the startup of Rec, Sauar worked in the same type of
business as today in South Africa in the 90s, when 12,000 were
Brighterlite
• Established by Rec-founder Erik Sauar and others
from the earlier analysis firm Point Carbon.
• Selling subscriptions power from mini-solar panels to
a few dollars per month in developing countries.
• The founders own 66 percent through Differ.
Investor Christian Must own ten percent. CEO Stein
Eitrheim has eight percent, while German solar
specialist owns six percent.
• Shareholders have so far invested a scant 20 million
kroner.
• Five employees in Norway, 15 in Pakistan, five in
Kenya.
able to install small-scale solar home systems to households.
- Since then there has been a technological and cost perspective
• Supported by Innovation Norway, SkatteFUNN and
Norad. Brighterlite has also a loan commitment from
the Export Credit guaranteed by GIEK.
revolution in several areas. LED-lamps today are using one tenth
of the power compared with prior bulbs. A few years ago would a battery that now weigh one kilogram, weighed
20-30 kilograms, says Sauar.
Sells time
The subscription is paid electronic in advance once a month, preferably by a mobile phone. If the payment is not
received, the subscription will be blocked. The cloud-solution is developed by Anders Skogen, one of the former
Point Carbon defectors, who today plays a significant part of the Brighterlite team. He has placed great emphasis
on facilitating the illiterate, in addition making the box impossible to hack.
- What we sell is time. The subscribers are with this solar home system, making the electricity themselves.
Therefore, we do not need any permits for installation, a definite advantage when you want to avoid involving
many intermediaries, says Sauar.
Cut to Telenor
Brighterlite has partnered up with Telenor, which is the second largest telecommunications provider in Pakistan
with 37 million mobile subscriptions. Equally important is the Telenor-owned mobile payment provider EasyPaisa
with 55,000 stores across Pakistan. For Telenor it is a distinct advantage that customers have access to the steady
electricity so that they can charge their phones. EasyPasia get simultaneously an income at each payment.
- We start small-scale outside Islamabad, and aims to install about two thousand units during the summer. It is
important not to go too fast in the beginning, says Stein Eitrheim, CEO of Brighter Lite, who previously worked
for Telenor in Pakistan.
Electricity to one million
With a goal of offering electricity to one million people, which means an installation of 200,000 boxes, by the end
of next year, there is a sharp escalation in Brighterlite’s cards.
- With 50,000 subscribers, we begin to see black figures in the local company. With 200,000 subscribers, there is
a good store, said Sauar.
Brighterlite has also a made a plan for establishment in several countries, with Myanmar as the second and Kenya
as the third. The potential is enormous.
- There are 1.5 billion people without access to electricity today. Nearly half have a mobile phone they need to
charge, say Sauar.
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