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Boyd with locals in Ghana.
when they can could afford it, using their
mobile phone. After they had paid off the
full cost of the unit, it would be free to use
from then on.
Once they had developed their idea,
the pair faced the considerable challenge
of bringing it to market. Neither comes
from a business background: Boyd
had majored in Chinese and political
economy while Dan is a PhD candidate in
aeronautical engineering. So they joined
forces with three other students and
entered the Sydney Genesis competition,
an entrepreneurship challenge run by the
University which provides mentoring and
support for new ideas. After winning in
the Best Social Startup category, the team
went on to write up a detailed business
plan and entered it in the 2012 CEMS
Global Social Business Plan Competition.
In May last year, they won the prestigious
contest beating entrants from over 15
countries.
With their cash prize of 2, 500 euros,
Boyd and Dan were able to launch their
start-up, Hessex, and create a working
prototype: a numeric keypad that unlocks
when a code is entered, connected to an
off-the-shelf LED array, photovoltaic panel
and rechargeable battery. Since then,
they have been working with a Chinese
manufacturer to finesse the design with a
view to making an initial order of 100 solar
systems. They aim to test them out in a
four-month pilot scheme in Ghana, which
is set to commence in May.
Boyd is upbeat about the potential
for success. As he explains, the Hessex
solar lighting system has one stand-out
feature that should make it particularly
attractive to customers: its repayment
cost will be slightly less than the cost
of traditional kerosene lighting. “This is
the next generation of microfinance,” he
explains. “In traditional microfinance you
give people a loan and they are battling
The system will improve users’ health by reducing
the burning of fuel indoors. It will also help curb
greenhouse gas emissions from fuel-based lighting.
to repay it, but in this model, they are not
spending any more money on it.” Then,
once the unit is paid off after 12 to 18
months, users are free from the cycle of
buying costly lighting fuel.
That is just one of many possible
benefits. The system will improve users’
health by reducing the burning of fuel
indoors; around two million people
around the world die annually as a result
of the indoor air pollution, which causes
conditions such as chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The
renewable energy technology will also
help to curb greenhouse gas emissions
from fuel-based lighting, which releases
around 190 megatonnes of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere each year.
And It is also likely to improve lives in
ways that are hard to measure. The LED
array is brighter and more consistent than
fuel-based alternatives, does not fog up
over time like kerosene lamps, and does
not require users to collect wood or stoke
fires into the night. “This is an aspirational
product,” says Boyd. “If the chief of the
village gets it, everyone can see how good
it is and wants it, too. It is free marketing
for us.”
Despite its potential to change lives,
Boyd and Dan emphasise that Hessex is
not a charity but a commercial operation.
“We’re a social business and we need to
balance profit and the humanitarian side,”
he says. “We came to the decision that
being for-profit allows us to reach scale
faster, and is more sustainable.” Hessex
will make money by charging customers
a price that covers the cost of the unit and
includes a small margin for the company.
In the future, it may also be able to earn
carbon credits for the kerosene use that is
being offset.
Should their pilot program be
successful, the duo want to roll out the
solar lighting system in West Africa
and perhaps also license it for use by
international partners in other locations
such as India. The huge potential size of
their market is what excites them most of
all, says Dan: “If this works, the number of
lives that could be changed in the world is
pretty incredible.”
SAM mar 2013 19