The Impact Hub in Accra, will become the first business in the West African country to benefit from ecoligo’s fully financed solar-as-a-service solution.
For the latest project on the crowdinvesting platform ecoligo.investments, private investors will refinance a solar battery system which fosters innovation and entrepreneurship in Ghana. Investors will receive 5.00 % p.a. interest over 7 years, with a minimum investment of €500 and an early bird bonus of 0.50 % p.a. interest until 23:59 on March 27. The financing volume of this project is €14,000.
The roof-mounted solar panel array has a capacity of 8.8 kWp and is supported by an energy storage unit from the German manufacturer Hoppecke, which ensures a stable energy supply even during power cuts, a situation that often halts business activities in Ghana.
With reliable access to internet, technology and a comfortable working space, entrepreneurs at the Hub can focus on developing their ideas and businesses.
The solar plus battery system can generate 13.5 MWh of electricity per year and covers around 90% of the Hub’s electricity needs with the rest coming from the national grid; not only lowering their energy costs but also saving 6 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and eliminating the need for a backup diesel generator.
For the business, using clean energy is about more than just cost savings: sustainability is at the core of the Impact Hub Accra’s ethos. By powering their own operations with solar, the Hub can demonstrate the feasibility of renewable energy technologies to its entrepreneurs.
William Edem Senyo, CEO of Impact Hub Accra, said: “We at the Impact Hub Accra are an innovation enclave that not only supports local Entrepreneurs in their innovations, but also live innovation. We are therefore excited to make the transition towards a sustainable energy future, by having our own solar-battery system.
With this we can showcase that this technology is perfectly suited to Ghana and helps us to achieve one of our key goals: being sustainable in everything we do.”
CEO of ecoligo, Martin Baart, also expressed excitement at the outcome of the project, saying: “The installation of our first project in Ghana is a really exciting for ecoligo, especially as it is powering our own workspace!
Knowing that our business model has made this project possible is fantastic, and we look forward to demonstrating the benefits of our solution here at the Impact Hub Accra,” he added.
The Impact Hub Accra is a non-profit organisation and is part of a network of 95 other Hubs worldwide, which supports start-ups and entrepreneurs with working space, coaching and networking.
“Through ecoligo’s solar-as-a-service solution, the Hub pays a fixed monthly fee and does not need to provide a large upfront payment for the system, as the rest is financed by the crowdinvestors on ecoligo.investments. This solves a huge barrier to the uptake of solar energy solutions in Ghana, especially for commercial and industrial customers: the lack of available finance for such projects,” a statement copied to the B&FT further stated.
ecoligo provides a fully financed solar-as-a-service solution for businesses in emerging markets. With a complete digital platform for financing and delivering solar projects, ecoligo supplies these businesses with affordable electricity that enables them to grow and boost the local economy.
ecoligo.investments is a crowdinvesting platform for renewable energy projects in emerging market initiated by ecoligo GmbH, which selects the projects to be presented to interested investors. The platform is operated by ecoligo invest GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CrowdDesk GmbH.
