Bboxx Unveils New Range Of Small Solar Home Systems – CleanTechnica

Bboxx is a super platform providing access to essential products and services, connecting both underserved rural communities and aspiring urban ones with services including clean energy, clean cooking, smartphones, and loans.  Following its recent acquisition of solar energy frontrunner PEG Africa, Bboxx’s reach now enables it to positively impact the lives of more than 3.5 million people in 10 operating markets in Africa, including Nigeria, Togo, and Rwanda, where it provides access to energy for 10% of households in the country.

Bboxx says this helps it to directly contribute to 11 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The acquisition of PEG Africa makes Bboxx and its group of companies one of the largest networks in Africa for utility services, with over 4,000 staff across Africa and offices in the UK and China.

Bboxx wants to help people in the markets it operates reach their full potential. One of the major challenges in rural and urban areas in most African countries is the high operational costs in the transport sector, as well as inadequate transport services, especially in rural areas. To help address these challenges in the transport sector, Bboxx has partnered with Ampersand, an e-mobility company delivering sustainable transport solutions in East Africa, partner to expand Ampersand’s e-mobility scheme in Rwanda. Ampersand is Africa’s first and leading integrated electric motorcycle and transport energy solution. It has been operating in Rwanda for close to five years, and has thus far provided hundreds of e-motos along with swap stations and charging infrastructure to Kigali, while also expanding its network to Nairobi in neighboring Kenya. Ampersand has the biggest commercial electric motorcycle fleet in East Africa. Ampersand plans to have 6,500 electric motorcycles in operation by the end of this year and also plan to ramp up to between 20,000 and 30,000  motorcycles in operation in 2024.

One of the other longstanding problems on the African continent, and lot of other markets in the developing world, is the lack of access to electricity. To also help address some of these challenges for low income rural off-grid households, Bboxx has announced the launch of its new range of four small Solar Home Systems (SHS) designed to seize the opportunity of new advances in technology to help deliver energy access.

The new GPS and IoT-enabled range is designed to further Bboxx’s mission to transform lives and unlock potential by bringing innovative energy solutions to underserved communities worldwide.

Bboxx’s new Solar Home Systems were developed for households and small businesses which require a reliable solution for diverse energy needs. From providing enough power to support life-changing lights, cooling appliances, large televisions, and radios for communities in Africa, to supporting small businesses in urban areas with weak grids, Bboxx’s new bPower80-240 range can serve a wider range of energy requirements than ever before — advancing Bboxx’s ambition of ending global energy poverty by expanding access to affordable energy to the 750 million people living without electricity and the additional 840 million with an unreliable grid.

Bboxx says the four new modular systems offer an improved customer experience through an interactive screen, allowing customers to check remaining credit, and feature state-of-the-art lithium batteries and improved tamper protection. The models are plugged into Bboxx Pulse®, the company’s fully integrated operating system which drives the data-driven super platform, enabling flexible payment plans that adapt to customers’ incomes. Bboxx Pulse processes billions of data points from these devices every day to provide a superior experience for the customer.

Mansoor Hamayun, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bboxx, said:

“Our mission at Bboxx goes beyond providing innovative energy products; we are fundamentally committed to ending global energy poverty. Our new product range, with its increased affordability and functionality, allows us to extend our reach and serve more families and small businesses.

“We understand that energy is not just about powering appliances; it’s about transforming lives and empowering economies. In providing these solutions, we are an active participant in the global effort to uplift communities that have long been underserved.

“Our ambition to achieve universal energy access is embodied in every product we launch, and with each offering, we are one step closer to making clean, reliable energy accessible to all. Our world-class product range, that we’re launching today, will transform many more lives in the years to come.”

Here is a summary of the specs of the system:

Here are some images of the new SHS:

Images courtesy of Bboxx