Innovation & Technology Innovation & Technology

d.light Continues to Drive Increased Energy Options to Billions Without Reliable Access

In an effort to expand quality solar home system solutions to the 2.3 billion people worldwide without reliable access to power, d.light - a manufacturer and distributor of solar lighting and power products providing access to reliable, affordable, renewable energy for people in the developing world - is licensing its pay-as-you-go financing technology to partners and distributors around the world. d.light is the market leader in solar lighting and home system solutions in the developing world, as well as one of the early pioneers of the PayGo model.

By Sustainable Brands | Published 8 years ago | About a 3 minute read

In an effort to expand quality solar home system solutions to the 2.3 billion people worldwide without reliable access to power, d.light - a manufacturer and distributor of solar lighting and power products providing access to reliable, affordable, renewable energy for people in the developing world - is licensing its pay-as-you-go financing technology to partners and distributors around the world. d.light is the market leader in solar lighting and home system solutions in the developing world, as well as one of the early pioneers of the PayGo model. Now, local partners can have access to the same PayGo solution d.light uses for its own operations, including payment systems, customer support and inventory management tools. Designed with ease of use in mind, the d.light PayGo platform can be seamlessly integrated into existing partner operations anywhere in the world. d.light has PayGo partners in six countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and expects to double this number by the end of the year.

“People living in off-grid communities want to purchase modern, clean and reliable energy solutions to improve their quality of life, but many struggle to afford the upfront cost of a solar home system. d.light is thrilled to offer our financing platform to our growing list of partners,” said Karl Skare, d.light’s Director of New Business Initiatives. “Our partners choose us because we offer so much more than just the hardware and software required to run a PayGo business. We invest in our partners by providing them with on-ground support and guidance to help them quickly get up the learning curve and expand their businesses.”

Founded in 2006 as a for-profit social enterprise, d.light manufactures and distributes award-winning solar lighting and power products designed to serve the more than 2 billion people globally without access to reliable electricity The company’s PayGo Platform provides added flexibility to meet the needs of a variety of partners - in addition to supporting a full range of payment options, d.light provides the technical support required to establish payment, customer support and credit distribution systems in country. The backbone of these systems is d.light’s proprietary software platform, d.light Atlas, one of the most comprehensive, flexible, and reliable PayGo systems currently available. In addition to gaining access to d.light Atlas, partners also gain access to d.light’s expertise in running PayGo operations, including how-to guides for starting a pay-as-you-go business and assistance in recruiting and training key personnel.

Since 2011, d.light and its partners have sold 250,000 home solar systems, financing over 50 percent of them on a pay-as-you-go basis. Global energy company Total and mobile network operator Digicel were two of the first companies to partner with d.light in distributing the company’s PayGo offering.

“Awango by Total is targeting sales of 5 million lamps in Africa in the 2020 horizon, positively impacting 25 million people on the continent. d.light’s introduction of a pay-as-you-go product is key in helping us achieve this ambitious goal,” said Christophe Dargnies, Director of Access to Energy at Total. “Since 2010, we have partnered with d.light to provide affordable solar products to our customers and we look forward to bringing new and innovative products to market with d.light in the near future.”

“Our partnership with RE-VOLT and d.light has enabled us to bring reliable power to many homes and communities for the first time,” said Maarten Boute, Chairman of Digicel Haiti. “We are excited about the potential of a PayGo offering to drive mobile money adoption in Haiti, where the mobile money active base has recently grown over 600 percent‎.”

To date, d.light has impacted the lives of over 62 million people around the world by giving them access to affordable, safe and reliable power, with the goal of reaching 100 million by 2020.