Angaza Design is a company that seeks to eradicate darkness from African homes by selling solar power lighting systems that are cheaper than traditional lighting sources and function like a pre paid cell phone.

The Problem

The Founder, Lesley Silverthorn, started researching the concept for Angaza in her senior year in the Design School at Stanford. She found a huge problem for energy distribution in East Africa, as  many families are located off the grid and use Kerosene to light their home at night. Additionally, the other energy options, which include solar power were effective, but too expensive.

The Solution

Angaza combines “pay-as-you-go” technology with solar power generation. This technology allows families to pay in small increments to pay for the solar power energy. The first product Angaza has is called the SoLite which is a 3 watt LED light that doubles as a cell phone charging station. The technology works when a family sends a payment to Angaza for their lighting, Angaza voice calls the cell phone of the family and the cellphone (through sound) transmits data to “tell” the unit to illuminate for the allotted prepaid amount. When the payment time is completed the light shuts off.

The biggest problem Angaza faces is sales and distribution as the customer base is off  the grid rural African families and businesses. They are overcoming this challenge by having  local sales representatives in Africa that believe Africa needs to be illuminated.

In Africa, the lights are now switched on, as Angaza is creating new products and embedding their technology into other products, as well.