Energy exporter starts global
The Australian start-up Solar-Gem is setting out to address the enormous need in the developing world for affordable, reliable off-grid energy solutions. For Khimji Vaghjiani, CEO, it is almost unthinkable that there are surgeons in Africa who operate by candlelight when the hospital daytime generators switch off.
Concentrating on rural and remote areas, Solar-Gem delivers solar solutions to schools, homes, churches, community centres, factories and hospitals. The technology can be installed without technicians, and has multiple applications. Most importantly, a close-to-market manufacturing strategy makes solar technology affordable for governments, energy providers and aid organisations working in the developing world.
After only 12 months in operation, Solar-Gem is turning heads in Australia and beyond, winning trade awards and running extensive trials on the Indian subcontinent. Vaghjiani is an Indian-born, Australian-raised entrepreneur, whose previous work in the Innovation Department at Westpac prepared him well for a venture into innovative technology.
“I wouldn’t give it back for working in a bank,” Vaghjiani says. “I’ve always had a dream of taking a small Aussie company to the world, and that’s what I’m doing, I’m living my dream.”
The dream began “as all good business ideas do”, in a coffee shop with a piece of paper. Vaghjiani and a friend realised that for the 1.6 billion people in the world that live without access to electricity after dark, there was an aching need for energy. The earning potential of a wide open, desperate market wasn’t lost on the entrepreneur, either.
As Vaghjiani explains, once the sun goes down, communities without electricity burn wood or kerosene for light. But both options are costly, release noxious fumes and damage the environment. The World Bank estimates that the developing world burns almost $50 billion worth of kerosene for lighting alone.
“If rural communities have light, they can work a couple of hours later or they can study in the evenings. There’s a social benefit, there’s an education benefit, and these things lead to prosperity over the long term,” Vaghjiani says.
While most new businesses struggle to develop an export market, Solar-Gem has units in more than 10 countries around the world. It has been enormously successful for its short time in business, selling units across Africa, the Pacific and the Middle East.
Vaghjiani attributes this to a strong pull from market. “It’s just about commercialisation. It’s about taking technology to the market. We’ve matched my own contacts in a lot of these regions to the enormous need for the product,” he says. “We’ve aggressively sold something that has enormous potential.”
Finding a new niche
While the need for energy solutions in the developing world is not new, Solar-Gem has found a niche for their durable, affordable solar panels. The systems require no expertise to install, have a range of uses, and can be deployed very quickly, and each panel has a charging and billing system on board.
Vaghjiani explains: “You can actually deploy it and charge people a few dollars at a time for usage. That’s something a whole lot our competitors don’t have.”
Transportable and impact resistant, some of Solar-Gem’s customers have found innovative uses for the products that Vaghjiani himself had not considered. The panels can be used to power water pumps; they could also power mobile charging stations in regions where mobiles are taking off, despite users having nowhere to charge them. Solar-Gem is in early talks with some international relief organisations about using the panels during disaster management.
“Light is a really important aspect of the kind of relief effort you see after the Haiti earthquake or the Chinese earthquake,” Vaghjiani says. “You can take our units, put them up and provide lighting for relief workers and communities during the night.” Solar-Gem has attracted interest from eco-resorts in the Pacific and from overseas armies for use in remote military locations.
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