SOLshare

SOLshare created a revolutionary new approach to bring affordable solar electricity to the energy poor in remote, rural off-grid communities of Bangladesh. Building upon the success of an installation base of five million solar home systems, that generate an excess amount of energy worth US$ 1 billion per year that cannot be stored, we are pioneering a micro-energy transition model 3.0, by interconnecting solar home systems into smart peer-to-peer micro-grids, monetizing (excess) solar energy along the value chain with mobile money in real time and empowering rural communities to earn a direct income from the sun. SOLshare is propelling the systemic change of how people use and move electrons around the globe in the spirit of the new energy world fueled by the 5 D's: Decarbonization, Decentralization, Democratization, Disruption & Digitization. SOLshare's solutions could potentially change the face of utilities globally, and leapfrogs rural communities today.

Over 1 billion people in the world, mostly rural off-grid dwellers, have no access to electricity and another 1 billion people have a very unreliable supply. This problem is particularly acute in Bangladesh's Char areas where people continue to remain off the grid due to the challenge and feasibility of grid access to those river-islands and where the national grid will most likely never reach.

It is estimated that there are currently around 50 million people with no electricity or security of supply in Bangladesh. Globally, Bangladesh is considered the market leader of solar home systems. However, these systems remain prohibitively expensive for a large portion of people from the river islands of Bangladesh, provide limited opportunity for real economic community development, and have huge amounts of excess energy which get completely lost right now. SOLshare’s technology provides a solution which responds to the energy trilemma and benefits users through the opportunity to earn more, increases energy efficiency and allows productive energy use through appliances. This could be the critical and necessary step for resolving Bangladesh’s energy access problem eventually leading to grid integration and further strengthened by partnerships with local stakeholders.

SOLshare operates in a B2B model with partners that have strong field presence and knowledge of remote locations with existing solar home systems. Our customers have installed more than 60% of the current installation base of 5 million solar home systems. Our end-users fall into three categories. 1. Consumers - villagers that do not have a system of their own and are pure off-takers. 2. Prosumers - villagers with a solar home systems that at times need more power, other times less. They can be a net-producer or consumer depending on their usage pattern. 3. Producers - villagers that turn out to be solar entrepreneurs who obtain solar generation and storage assets for the purpose of selling. SOLshare is trying to put a special focus on women here. By enabling the use of appliances with higher energy demand that conventional stand-alone solar home systems cannot power, it is possible to replace diesel generators that are commonly used in rural areas for applications such as water pumps, and grain mills, public buildings, among others. As an additional benefit, communities do not suffer from noise pollution from these generators and reduce the risk of fuel cost volatility. 

SOLshare’s technology is comprised of our energy trading platform (the SOLgrid), a peer-to-peer solar micro-grid, that interconnects households and microbusinesses with and without solar home systems allowing users the freedom to use the energy as a producer, prosumer or a consumer. The SOLbox, is a machine-to-machine (M2M) enabled integrated direct current bi-directional power smart meter that is the point of interconnection within the peer-to-peer (P2P) network. It is the precursor of the ‘swarm’ approach for sustainable rural electrification. The world’s first solar peer-to-peer grid was installed by SOLshare which has significant entrepreneurial benefits for all Solar Home System (SHS) users in remote and rural areas in Bangladesh and India where main grid electricity is currently unavailable.

The SOLgrid is dependent on an Internet of Things (IoT) working together enabled by our own Wi-Fi towers set up within rural areas. SOLshare is able to analyze and correct any performance issues close to realtime. The company has extremely dedicated staff who are constantly working to further improve user experience and minimize technical issues. Data collection and analysis is a big part of what SOLshare does to ensure that our users are happy with the results of the product. To come up with most efficient allocation of limited energy resources in remote areas, SOLshare applies machine learning to improve it trading algorithm.

By providing a market-based solution to participants in the peer-to-peer microgrid, there are financial incentives to make a more efficient use of the energy resources as wasted energy means either a) energy that could have generated revenue for producers or b) paid but unused (or misused) energy for consumers. Thus, participants are empowered to make rational decisions when using energy. Additionally, by unlocking the ability to trade electricity between the decentralized standalone systems, security to supply is assured and a low threshold to energy access is granted.

Targeting the remote population of the river islands of Bangladesh, who still relies on fossil fuels for limited economic and subsistence activities, SOLshare will provide affordable access to clean decentralized energy, substituting the traditional local sources of energy (fuelwood, diesel generators, kerosene) and improving the existing energy infrastructure (solar home systems) through the retrofitting with the SOLshare technology. This allows e.g. farmers to use more efficient equipment that saves not only cost but also increases revenue by bigger outputs in the agricultural sector, especially when solar water pumps are applied and interconnected.

SOLshare's x-factor is that it installed the world's first solar P2P grid and with that a first mover advantage with grids running since 2015. The future of energy will be decideded by who is most capable of moving electrons from A to B in a fully decentralized and decarbonized set-up. At SOLshare, we don't need a regulatory sandbox to install solar P2P grids but have massive scale opportunities at ultra low-cost in Bangladesh and India.

What makes SOLshare stand out above all the rest is our product. Our energy trading platform is the key to the future of energy. This standalone platform is a viable product that has potential global applications. It could remove the need for power companies in the future and be the push towards renewable energy that is needed right now. It's can be a self-sustaining environment and could do wonders in developed countries as well. We believe in creating change using a bottom up approach and thus we work with the energy poor.

SOLshare is working to create resilient energy infrastructures that can cope with extreme changes in climate conditions as found in Bangladesh. Currently  we have 25 operational microgrids across Bangladesh and 2 pilot microgrids in Assam, Inida. Together these grids are serving over 3,000 beneficiaries. Households which previously did not have access to electricity have been able to purchase electricity at an affordable rate. Small business with SHS have become prosumers and producers where they sell solar power at an affordable rate allowing other small businesses to have power for some time after sun down increasing the economic returns of both parties. The livelihoods within the rural communities has improved greatly; women and children are able to work/study after dark and many women-led home businesses have grown. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) as calculated by Asia IIX , an external party, estimates that USD 4.85 of impact is created for every USD 1 raised for a P2P solar grid operated. SOLshare estimates that it will reduce carbon emissions by 4M tonnes by 2021 (Asia IIX). The Solar P2P trading of energy has the potential to become a true global south reverse innovation. 

Currently SOLshare's solar p2p microgrids serve over 3,000 people. Over the next year SOLshare will be installing another 100 microgrids through which another 15,000 people will be served. In 5 years SOLshare aims to bring this number to 100,000 people. 

Our focus is not to just provide energy access. We want the people within our grids to have all the benefits available to those in urban areas. That is why we have expanded our technology to include billable Wi-Fi and electric vehicle charging pit stops. As the energy demand amongst our users goes up, so does our creativity in the services we provide. Ultimately we hope to that our users will be able to have the life they want and use energy they way they want with the appliances and services they wish to have. 

• Energy Access to 100,000 beneficiaries: Over the next five years our the target is to reach 100,000 people with access to affordable clean energy. 
• Holistic Grids: We also hope to have holistic grids which provide EV charging, billable Wi-Fi and many other facilities. 
• Expansion in Agriculture: SOLshare is also looking to expand within the agricultural sector, this includes solar irrigation/solar water pumps for agricultural communities. 
• Increase women's entrepreneurship in agriculture: The agro-processing sector is dominated by women, but they earn half the amount a man does for the same amount of work. With access to solar powered agro-processing equipment through micro-finance schemes (done through B2B partners with micro-finance licenses), women would be able to accomplish more in a short amount of time empowering them both socially and economically. 
• Increase awareness through community engagement: SOLshare's work has always been directly with local communities as no grid is possible without community consent and involvement. As we continue we hope to raise awareness on among remote rural communities on the benefits and ways in which their livelihoods could change through access to energy and all our services. Through awareness raising SOLshare hopes to reach at least a million people. 

• Financial: This is our biggest challenge. Being a startup investments and funds are our bread and butter upon which our survival is dependent for the next few years until we hit breakeven. 
• Technical: Unless SOLshare can keep up with ever advancing and developing technology our products will become dead in the water. It is imperative that we keep improving.  
• Market Barriers: Competition from a major player could have a huge impact on work. Especially since we are a startup. A big financial player could change the game.  
• Legal: SOLshare currently operates in an unregulated sandbox which is easy now, but it will become difficult if the situation changes.
• Cultural: As the technology is new and unknown, cultural acceptance is difficult for most communities. 

• Financial: SOLshare will continue fundraising through different streams is on the verge of holding it's series B round of investments through which we hope to raise $5 million this time which would go a long way in helping us achieve our goals. 
• Technical: With constantly changing and developing technology, SOLshare also has to keep up in updating and upgrading its technology. This is based on constant data collection and analysis at our backend. 
• Market Barriers: Right now we are operating without competition as our current competitors operate in different countries and no one has a product exactly like ours and nor have they expanded to the same extent as SOLshare. This is why we are constantly doing our best to improve so that when the time arises SOLshare will not face these issues and will already have an establish customer base. 
• Legal: SOLshare is currently in the process of working with the government in moving forward especially when grid integration comes into play. This way we can stay ahead and be prepared for changes that could happen.
• Cultural: This is a matter that SOLshare has been able to overcome through community engagement and ensuring local stakeholders are involved and aware of what the technology does and is capable of.

SOLshare currently has 25 operational microgrids in remote off grid areas covering 5 out of 8 divisions in Bangladesh with an additional 160 grids being lined up for implementation. Moreover, 2 pilot microgrids in Assam, India have been installed. We are presently serving over 3,000 beneficiaries. Access to clean energy has helped our users, both households and micro-business owners, by increasing economic returns, improving livelihoods and creating alternative income generating opportunities. 

SOLshare has also already begun implementing billable Wi-Fi within 2 existing microgrids as an extension to its platform offering including internet access. It is also in the process of developing the electric vehicle charging which has been done as a pilot and will be further expanded across the fleet of  microgrids. 

SOLshare is currently in the process of scaling up and expanding. By the end of next year SOLshare will have installed a minimum of 100 microgrids across Bangladesh. Working through local partnerships with organizations already having access to remote areas, has given SOLshare the edge needed and allowed us to leverage existing solar home systems. 

Following a sustainable business model we intend for our work to continue having a positive impact long after implementation. Thus the introduction of productive use appliances is imperative and increases user satisfaction and furthers energy demand. We believe that our work will increase the uptake of renewables and eventually become the future of utilities globally.

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The current number of full time staff is 52, part time staff is 5, and we have  a couple of contractors.

SOLshare is the best organization to deliver this solution because of the following:

• Our RnD is in-house and we are constantly in the process of developing and improving our product to provide the best possible service to our customers. Yet, we are mature enough to realize that for the last 10-15% of product maturity, we had to seek out support from very experienced product developers and designers as an outsourcing/ strategic collaboration activity. Collaborating with the best around the globe, as well as SOLshare as a brand by now, has led to turned SOLshare into a an extremely sought after workplace in the city. This, in turn, allowed us to continuously improve our team.
• With three PhDs in electrical engineering, IoT and development economics in our extended founding team we have a very strong foundation of all our work.
• SOLshare has attracted the interest and trust of a subset of the world's largest energy utilities (joint under the Free Electrons program which SOLshare won), counting two of them as their investors and Board members.

Our current partners include: 

• Grameen Shakti (GS): under the umbrella of Nobel Laureate, Professor Yunus's Grameen Bank, Grameen Shakti installed 1.8 million solar home systems across Bangladesh. Having won many accolades and awards for their work, they were the right partner as they had the necessary field presence and access needed to implement our solution.
• Chars Development Research Center (CDRC): is a rural development center particularly dedicated to improving the livelihoods of the poor and extreme poor char dwellers. CDRC is operated under the administrative umbrella of the Rural Development Academy (RDA). It inherited unique competency within the areas of poverty reduction, livelihood improvement and food security, empowering women, green technology generation and overall rural development from RDA, which has been serving the rural development sector for the last four decades as a national academy. CDRC's work and experience in Char areas made them an excellent partner for SOLshare to work with.
• Harvard/ MIT Sloan: To measure the impact of our grids, a RCT is conducted.
• Telefonica's Alpha Energy: To improve our data analytics, we engaged with Alpha.
• GIZ: To support our development of solar rickshaw charging stations (1.5M electric rickshaws in Bangladesh's remote areas)

SOLshare offers its P2P smart microgrid platform in a B2B business model to solar home system distributors. The SOLgrid platform consists of software and hardware products, offered in a simple service/sales model. The distributors act as the local grid operators for each of the installed microgrids and provide grid related products and maintenance services towards the end-user.

SOLshare counts on three different revenue streams:
1. Hardware: sales revenue + margin on the SOLbox and communications technology (IoT device);
2. Software as a service towards our customers;
3. The trading fee of every kWh of energy traded among the end-users.

The emphasis is on the trading fee which acts similar to an Uber-like model.

SOLshare is  a platform provider continuously expanding its service offering through the same. The company has a fee-for-service revenue model towards its B2B customers, but most importantly operates in sharing economy model earning its revenue from the bid and ask spread of every energy transaction on its platform. 

Our simulations base don past trading data and in combination which additional appliances being adopted in the rural markets, that the trading volume is undergoing an exponential growth. If the willingness to pay per unit remains constant while consumption is growing exponentially, SOLshare's revenue growth accordingly. SOLshare is currently developing a dynamic pricing scheme which will make the grid more efficient but also help in case the before-mentioned hypothesis does not hold true.

Apart from that, SOLshare is a pioneer for the energy future combined with strong social impact that has attracted substantial attention on international fora. This has put us into a very good position to attract further investment until the platform becomes profitable. 

This is excellent opportunity for SOLshare to become a part of the SOLVE community and grow our network of peers. SOLshare has thrived on collaborating with other organizations. Through our innovative work we have already achieved many accolades and awards and each time we have had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other like-minded interesting and innovative organizations. SOLVE provides another opportunity as well as a responsibility. If SOLshare is selected we will have the finances necessary to begin the road to reach our 5 year goals and embark at full speed on our journey accelerate innovation for a better environment in Bangladesh. 

SOLshare is always looking to collaborate with other organizations. 

• Organizations interested in financing our work and expand our micro-grids
• Organizations interested in helping further develop our technology & solution -especially IT backbone
• Organizations interested in doing collaborations such as research and technology where SOLshare plays the technology implementer
• Organizations with new ideas for implementation of our solution
• Organization interested in implementing our solution in new areas.