African Solar Designs (ASD) received a Seed grant from the Mobile for Development Utilities Innovation Fund in December 2013 to to trial a solar-diesel hybrid energy system for powering an off-grid telecom tower along with surrounding businesses and communities in Kenya. In this “Community Power for Mobile” (CPM) model, the telecom tower serves as the anchor customer while nearby businesses and households benefit from energy services that would otherwise not be viable without the anchor customer. Although the pilot was not completed, valuable lessons were learned about the opportunities and challenges of partnering with a mobile operator/tower company for the CPM model.

PDF Download: African Solar Designs: Trialling the Community Power for Mobile Model in Kenya