Verified1 min read
● projectScaled · national · 2011
M-KOPA pay-as-you-go solar home systems
M-KOPA pioneered the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar home system model in Kenya: founded in 2010 in Nairobi, commercially launched in late 2012.
illustrative atlas image · Robert So / Pexels01 The context
Households pay a deposit and then daily or weekly micro-payments via mobile money (M-Pesa), with a GSM/M2M chip that locks the unit if payments stop. Once the payments are completed, the customer owns the solar kit. The model turned an unaffordable purchase into a financeable asset for off-grid and underbanked households, and later expanded into financing for smartphones, appliances and loans.
02 How it works
method · Pay-as-you-go asset financing via mobile-money micro-paymentsmethod · Remote lock/unlock of hardware tied to payment status (M2M/GSM)tool · Solar home system kit (panel, battery, LED lights, phone charging)tool · M-Pesa mobile money paymentstool · Embedded GSM/M2M control chip in solar unit
03 What it stands on
Evidence level
Own experience
Grounded in published theory
Documented evidence elsewhere
Independently evaluated here
Peer-reviewed research documents this project: the strongest evidence level in the atlas.
The evidence 2 ›
EvidenceThe solar energy access in Kenya: a review focusing on Pay-As-You-Go solar home systemEnvironment, Development and Sustainability (Springer Nature) · 2019
EvidencePay-As-You-Go model brings millions into the electricity market (M-KOPA case, Paper 5)Efficiency for Access Coalition · 2019