Light and Information Access for Sitapur District

Mera Gao Power builds, owns, and operates solar powered microgrids in Uttar Pradesh, India serving off-grid villages with high quality, dependable lighting and mobile phone charging services.

	Aug 2014 –	Interest repayment 1
	Nov 2014 –	Interest repayment 2
	Feb 2015 –	Interest repayment 3
	May 2015 –	Interest repayment 4
	Aug 2015 –	Interest repayment 5
	Nov 2015 –	Interest repayment 6
	Feb 2016 –	Interest repayment 7
	May 2016 –	Interest repayment 8
	Aug 2016 –	Interest repayment 9
	Nov 2016 –	Interest repayment 10
	Feb 2017 –	Interest repayment 11
	May 2017 –	Principal and interest repayment 12

Good news! Your received your fourth loan repayment for this project. Since only interest repayments are made on a quarterly basis for this project (and the principal of this project gets repaid at the end of the loan term), you only received Impact Points in your account this time around.

On the benefits that Mera Gao Power’s customers are experiencing, co-founder Sandeep Pandey says: “Families are simply happy to see the food that they eat after sun down, safely avoid snakes entering their homes, and no longer be exposed to the fire hazards of kerosene lamps. A family would easily spend Rs 160 a month for mobile charging and kerosene for lamps. We charge them Rs 100, and therefore solar is not a hard sell.”

Watch this TERI video of Mera Gao Power and its customers in Sitapur to see how your money is impacting lives of rural off-grid families.

Lend a Hand for Rafiki

Global Cycle Solutions is a social enterprise working to develop and disseminate affordable, quality technology for villagers around the world.

	Jun 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Sep 2014 –	Repayment 2
	Dec 2014 –	Repayment 3
	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 4

Congratulations! Your loan has been fully repaid. Here are some updates from Global Cycle Solutions’ team in Tanzania:

“We are still rolling a ball of marketing our solar lights to people especially those living in rural villages. Our Rafiki Team is doing a great job in reaching out to people in different villages to make sure people have access to our high quality solar lights. While introducing these lights, we inform customers on the remarkable benefits of using solar lights, including cost reduction compared to using kerosene lights, ability to productively perform duties at night, and keeping safe from harmful diseases caused by inhaling fumes from kerosene lamps and others. Moreover, we aim to win our customers trust and do so by providing a 2-year warranty period for every light, meaning that our customers can return defective light(s) and get working ones within 2 years from the date of purchase. Thanks to the loans from SunFunder community, we can keep this marketing activity up and continue to restock our inventory of solar lights to spread across Tanzania.”

Energizing Kayunga With Solar

SolarNow provides affordable, high quality solar home systems to off-grid households and businesses in Uganda. Their solar home systems range 50 to 500 watts and because they’re modular they can be upgraded over time.

	Jun 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Sep 2014 –	Repayment 2
	Dec 2014 –	Repayment 3
	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 4

Your loan has been fully repaid! Congratulations and thank you for supporting SunFunder in unlocking capital for solar energy in emerging markets. Thanks to this loan, SolarNow was able to sell 40 units of their 50W solar home kits on an 18-month payment plan. Each system powers 6 lights, cellphone charging, and radio, and is the first step of many households toward modern energy access. With the savings they’re able to accummulate by switching to solar, families will be able to continually upgrade their lifestyles to eventually enjoy appliances like a television and even refrigerator—all powered by solar energy and available through SolarNow.

Switch On Ntungamo

SolarNow provides affordable, high quality solar home systems to off-grid households and businesses in Uganda. Their solar home systems range 50 to 500 watts and because they’re modular they can be upgraded over time.

	Sep 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Dec 2014 –	Repayment 2
	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Jun 2015 –	Repayment 4
	Sep 2015 –	Repayment 5
	Dec 2015 –	Repayment 6

Good news! Your received your third loan repayment for this project. Since only interest repayments are made on a quarterly basis for this project (and the principal of this project gets repaid at the end of the loan term), you only received Impact Points in your account this time around.

Ms. Najjemba is SolarNow customer that purchased a solar home system on payment plan in April and was recently visited by a SolarNow staff. She runs a small shop in a remote trading centre containing 7 brick houses while her husband is in the field working the banana (Matoke) and onion crops. She offers small packages of washing powder, a handful of fresh nuts, pens and notebooks for the school children from the school opposite the trading centre, and provides soda bottles for the refreshment seekers. Her shop is now open for longer hours due to the solar lights. This has increased the services being provided to the community, who now gather around the shop and chat in the evenings. Ms. Najjemba told the SolarNow staff, “We would like to expand our shop to the building next door. A barbershop on solar is our dream.

SolarNow provides affordable, high quality solar home systems to off-grid households and businesses in Uganda. Their solar home systems range 50 to 500 watts and because they’re modular they can be upgraded over time.

	Sep 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Dec 2014 –	Repayment 2
	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Jun 2015 –	Repayment 4
	Sep 2015 –	Repayment 5
	Dec 2015 –	Repayment 6

Good news! Your received your third loan repayment for this project. Since the principal of this project gets repaid at the end of the loan term, you only received Impact Points in your account from this repayment.

Your loan helps SolarNow extend 18-month payment plans to their customers that can’t afford to pay for a 50W solar home system upfront. As you can see from the photo, they’ve got quite the sales team that is traveling throughout Uganda to find new customers and offer them the affordable payment plan!

Easy Power with ReadyPay

Fenix International is a renewable energy company delivering their manufactured ReadySet solar home systems to people who live without power in emerging markets.

	Oct 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Jan 2015 –	Repayment 2
	Apr 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Jul 2015 –	Repayment 4
	Oct 2015 –	Repayment 5
	Jan 2016 –	Repayment 6

Good news! The fourth out of six scheduled repayments for this project is complete.

Fenix International is a renewable energy company delivering their manufactured ReadySet solar home systems to people who live without power in emerging markets.

	Oct 2014 –	Repayment 1
	Jan 2015 –	Repayment 2
	Apr 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Jul 2015 –	Repayment 4
	Oct 2015 –	Repayment 5
	Jan 2016 –	Repayment 6

Good news! The third out of six scheduled repayments for this project is complete.

Solar for Clean Homes

Boma Safi is a woman-led social enterprise that innovates in the distribution of life improving and poverty solving goods – including clean cook stoves and solar PV appliances – to the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP), typically underserved by conventional trading and financial systems.

	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 1
DELAYED	May 2015 –	Repayment 2
DELAYED	Jul 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Sep 2015 –	Repayment 4

Although it deals a lot with the sun, the emerging market solar business is not always all bright and sunny. Boma Safi has been experiencing some operational difficulties in Kenya and has contacted SunFunder in advance of their second repayment to inform us that they would be late in making their second loan repayment. Our Tanzania-based team have since been in close touch with Boma Safi’s team, working through their financials and projected cash flows, to determine their ability to repay and restructuring their loan repayment schedule appropriately. It is unlikely that Boma Safi will be able to repay all of their loans by September, but we are actively looking for solutions to have the majority of the principal paid back by the end of 2015.

Boma Safi is a woman-led social enterprise that innovates in the distribution of life improving and poverty solving goods – including clean cook stoves and solar PV appliances – to the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP), typically underserved by conventional trading and financial systems.

	Mar 2015 –	Repayment 1
	May 2015 –	Repayment 2
	Jul 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Sep 2015 –	Repayment 4

Good news! Despite a slight delay, the repayment for your loan has been fully paid.

Improve Children’s Studies with Solar

SunnyMoney is a social enterprise that sells quality solar lights in Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania, reducing reliance on poor quality fuels such as kerosene and disposable, short-life batteries.

	Apr 2015 –	Repayment 1
	Jul 2015 –	Repayment 2
	Oct 2015 –	Repayment 3
	Jan 2016 –	Repayment 4

This is to inform you (belatedly) that your first repayment for this project has been made. You may have noticed the credit in your SunFunder account. We fully expect the second repayment to be made on time this month by SunnyMoney and share more exciting stories from the ground in the next email update.

Light Up Homes with Little Sun