The remote village of Monomoni, Kenya, is too far from cities and too sparsely populated to be part of the national grid. Now, however, it’s possible to for a family of cow herders or a small business to buy prepaid solar power through a mobile phone.
Powerhive, a startup that builds solar, mobile-connected microgrids—small utilities that are usually built to power around 200 homes—started testing their system in Monomoni in 2012, and began expanding to 100 more rural villages around the country last year, along with others in the rest of the underpowered world. The company raised $11 million in December, and just raised another $20 million to expand even more.
Dispatches From The Front 