A single MOPO PowerBox will let a rural household in Nigeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo cook, mill grain, and run a fan or fridge using rented batteries charged by solar power or agricultural waste. This project tackles a specific gap: the 53,000 customers already using Mobile Power’s pay-per-use battery system still rely on diesel generators or wood biomass for cooking and productive tasks. The experiment tests whether integrating three existing technologies—a waste-to-energy pyrolyser, a high-efficiency electric pressure cooker, and a solar-powered grain mill—into a single distributed renewable energy system can replace those dirty fuels at scale. If it works, the impact is concrete. A woman who currently spends an hour hand-milling grain or walks to a distant diesel-powered mill could instead use an AgSol MicroMill that processes food 50 times faster, powered by a battery she rents at 70–80% less than fossil-fuel costs. The same battery can cook her evening meal and run a refrigerator. The project will demonstrate this in 100 off-grid communities across Nigeria and DRC, iterating the business model to prove commercial scalability and unlock further investment.
View original technical description
VISION: Ensuring the clean energy revolution reaches the poorest and most marginalised in Nigeria and DRC through integrating innovative clean energy technologies within Mobile Power's energy ecosystem to replace fossil-fuel generators and wood-biomass for cooking, creating a 'Distributed Renewable Energy System' (DRES) OBJECTIVES: This experimental development project will demonstrate a solution that integrates generation, distribution and use of clean-energy in rural settings. This requires new technology - a multipurpose 'MOPO PowerBox' - and incorporation of household and productive use appliances within the Mobile Power business model. Mobile Power has an established presence serving 53,000 frequent customers in 180 communities. The objective of this project is to see if it is possible to acquire and combine existing technological, market knowledge and business models with the aim of providing services to rural customers. Pyrogenesys' waste-to-energy technology will generate electricity that will be distributed by Mobile Power's innovative battery storage technology to power: * clean cooking in partnership with Gamos/MECs, * grain milling in partnership with AgSol * sustainable cooling- refrigeration and fans using Mobile Power's smart modular inverter. INNOVATION: 1. Mobile Power has a unique power delivery ecosystem and business model through installing solar-powered battery charging Hubs (MOPO Hubs). Batteries are rented via a 'pay-per-use' model at 70-80% lower cost than fossil fuel alternatives. Our secure, smart battery ecosystem remotely tracks MOPO Batteries through the entire rental cycle making losses to theft negligible. 2. Pyrogenesys have a proprietary pyrolysis technology for producing electricity from agricultural waste. In addition to solar, MOPO Hubs will be charged using Pyrogenesys's technology to enable battery charging at night. 3. DC Appliances * AgSol has a low-cost, high-efficiency MicroMill for grain milling. The MicroMill can process food 50x faster than a human can, thereby transforming a one hour manual task, or a time-wasting journey to the nearest mill, into a quick and easy job. * MECs/Gamos have developed an affordable low-cost Electric Pressure Cooker (EPC). Mobile Power will integrate these appliances to be powered by MOPO Batteries through developing a 'MOPO PowerBox'; a multi-battery docking system enabling three battery configurations needed to power different size appliances. AREAS OF FOCUS:These integrated technologies will be demonstrated in 100 rural off-grid communities in new markets (Nigeria and DRC, the two largest African markets) in real life operating conditions, iterating the business model to demonstrate a commercially scalable product and services that will unlock future sales and further investment.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know