Be generous with PV watts
Commodity rigid panels can be remarkably inexpensive per watt. The entry system aims to use enough panel area that charging does not depend on squeezing every last percent through expensive electronics.
Early-stage engineering project
Useful electricity first.
Explore a radically simple household solar system built around inexpensive photovoltaic watts, rechargeable appliances, field-serviceable parts and a path to larger systems as a household’s needs grow.
This is a development site, not a product offer. Costs, specifications and financing shown here are working targets under test.
~100 Wworking entry-panel size
US$55–60working hardware-cost target
No inverterat the entry level
No central batterystorage lives in appliances
A different starting point.
Conventional solar home systems concentrate cost in a battery, inverter and controller. This project asks whether the first useful rung can be much simpler: a commodity solar panel feeding efficient DC converters and appliances that already contain their own small rechargeable batteries.
Put storage where it is used
Lights, fans, radios, phones and small televisions can carry their own batteries. That avoids a single central battery becoming the cost and failure point of the whole household system.
Keep the first system DC
USB and low-voltage DC cover a surprising range of useful loads. An inverter becomes an upgrade rather than a requirement on day one.
Design for a screwdriver
Connectors, replaceable modules and straightforward wiring matter. A field technician should be able to isolate a failed branch and replace a low-cost part without specialized equipment.
Make upgrades additive
A second panel, larger storage, 24 V loads or a future inverter should add capability without discarding the useful appliances and PV already purchased.
Test ugly conditions
Clouds, low sun and repeated brownout/recovery matter more than a perfect bench supply. The development rig is being built to replay measured solar profiles and expose bad charger behavior early.
The long-range objective.
This is deliberately ambitious: explore a ten-year program capable of bringing 200 million African households to at least a useful Tier-2 level of electrical service, with voluntary, self-funded progression toward much larger systems. What do the tiers mean?
200 million households
At least Tier-2-scale useful electricity: lighting, communications, fans and other low-power household services.
50 million to Tier 3
Additional PV, storage and power capability as household demand and ability to pay increase.
12.5 million to Tier 5
Full household electrical service for a first large cohort. The broader aspiration remains a path to Tier 5 for everyone.
Prototype now
From idea to hardware.
The first breadboarded distribution unit uses several inexpensive USB buck modules. A rechargeable COB light is bright while charging, and an old cell phone successfully returned to service after being connected to the prototype.
✓
Multiple independent 5 V branches.
One misbehaving load need not collapse every charging outlet.
One misbehaving load need not collapse every charging outlet.
✓
12 V branch under development.
For small TVs, larger fans and other useful DC appliances.
For small TVs, larger fans and other useful DC appliances.
→
Next test: one real ~100 W solar panel feeding a realistic mix of partially discharged appliances for a full day.
Distributor V1
Five charging channels on one 100 × 100 mm board.
The first integrated distributor PCB has now been laid out and ordered for prototype fabrication. It combines three independent 5 V buck-converter channels feeding six USB-A sockets with two independent 12 V channels feeding four barrel-jack outputs.
3
5 V channels.
Each channel feeds one stacked dual USB-A connector.
Each channel feeds one stacked dual USB-A connector.
2
12 V channels.
Each channel feeds a pair of center-positive 5.5 × 2.1 mm outputs.
Each channel feeds a pair of center-positive 5.5 × 2.1 mm outputs.
V1
Prototype mechanics.
Several generic connector and protection-component footprints still need to be checked against the delivered parts.
Several generic connector and protection-component footprints still need to be checked against the delivered parts.
Solar that behaves like solar.
A programmable bench source is being built around an ESP32-S2 Mini and a buck power stage. It will replay measured Nova Scotia solar-current profiles so charger recovery can be tested against passing clouds, poor mornings and repeated power collapse—not just a laboratory supply.
PAYGo without making the electronics expensive.
A working financing hypothesis is deliberately simple: make the upfront hurdle small, let the household own the system after a fixed period, and use repayment history as a bridge to larger solar rather than adding complicated lockout electronics to every entry system.
$10working down-payment target
Then $3 per month for 24 months
That produces US$82 in nominal receipts. The present working cost model is roughly US$55–60 of hardware plus field installation and infrastructure. Real financing cost, payment fees, defaults, warranty and local operating costs still have to be demonstrated.
$10down payment
24 × $3monthly payments
$82nominal total
Electricity can become productive capital.
A useful reason to design for upgrades is that household solar can support income as well as lighting and communications. A 2019 GOGLA/Altai Consulting follow-up study tracked PAYGo solar-home-system customers in five East African countries and revisited them about 15 months after purchase.
A longer follow-up
The study revisited customers well after the first novelty period rather than measuring only the first weeks of ownership.
Reported additional income
Twenty-eight percent of households reported generating additional income associated with the added economic activity enabled by their solar home system.
Average reported gain
For households reporting additional income, the reported increase averaged about US$46 per month.
What this does—and does not—show: the research covered 1,419 solar-home-system owners in Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It was observational rather than a randomized trial, so the result should not be read as a promise that solar will raise every household's income. It is evidence that access to useful electricity can support more work hours, business activity and new income streams. GOGLA, Powering Opportunity in East Africa (2019) ↗
Useful add-ons, not a locked bundle.
The entry system should support things a household actually wants to add. The most interesting options either use daylight directly or bring their own storage.
USB power bank10–40 Wh of portable nighttime energy.
12 V televisionPreferably with an internal battery.
Larger DC fanUseful comfort load without an inverter.
Water pumpDirect daytime productive use.
Immersion heaterTurn strong midday sun directly into hot water.
Food warmer / slow cookerInsulation makes modest solar power useful over time.
Laptop / tool chargingPotentially income-producing rather than purely consumptive.
Second panel + 24 VA route toward truck/RV-class appliances and greater daytime power.
Where the project stands.
This is intentionally public before it is polished. The point of the site is to document what is being built, what has actually worked, and what remains only an attractive hypothesis.
Already demonstrated
- Low-cost USB DC-DC modules operating rechargeable appliance loads.
- A prototype charging an old cell phone back into service.
- ESP32-S2 MicroPython toolchain and 10 kHz PWM generation.
- Solar emulator schematic and PCB design completed; prototype PCBs ordered.
- Integrated 100 × 100 mm Solar Distributor V1 designed, electrically checked and sent for prototype fabrication.
Still to demonstrate
- Reliable automatic recovery of each appliance after repeated cloud-induced voltage collapse.
- Real landed BOM cost at meaningful production volume.
- Actual battery capacity and lifetime of very inexpensive rechargeable appliances.
- PAYGo repayment, service and warranty economics in real communities.
- A field installation model that remains simple at very large scale.
Important: This site documents research and prototype development. It is not currently soliciting customers, investments or donations, and no prices or performance figures should be treated as a commercial offer.