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From the Tamil: Cakti – power; Alikka – deliver
Caktilika is developing an affordable, reliable, modular inverter. By allowing customers to pay for their power as they use it, it will reach new markets among the over a billion rural poor, who lack reliable power, but have insufficient savings for the up-front cost of renewables such as solar or wind.
“We have been unable to source an inverter that is both reliable and affordable. If Caktilika can achieve a price of $300 for a 1kW inverter while retaining protection against overload, and shorting it will help us meet our target price.”
Jorge Ayarza;
MinVayu small wind systems
Caktilika was started after Natural Innovation was asked to source a reliable, affordable inverter. Inquiries of experienced installation companies in both developing countries and the USA showed they had all failed to source anything in the gap between unaffordable “marine grade” and the generic Chinese that rarely lasted a year.
Discussions with development financing experts highlighted the need to enable “Pay as You Go” pricing models since Microfinance or Bank loans have too high an interest rate for solutions that should be paid off over 10-years.
Combining these requirements led to the emergence of Caktilika as a collaboration of Meridian Design with their expertise in Bottom of the Pyramid design, and Natural Innovation’s expertise in creating scalable businesses around new technologies for developing countries.
Caktilika will sell this product through solutions providers with experience reaching rural markets allowing these companies to reach new markets within their existing service areas.
Features
- Pay as You Go charging
- Built in Charge Controller
- Modularity
- Solar – MPP tracking
- Wind – Speed Control
- Dirty Grid – automatic priority
- Generator – Automatic starting
- 5V USB port for phone charging
- 12V for lighting
- 110/240V AC
- Data logging
- Battery management
- Modular, open, expandable
Other “Pay as you Go” companies are typically tied to a particular renewable technology and country, and typically only offer low-power DC outputs, making them potential customers rather than competitors.
Caktilika will be configurable to accept payment via scratcher card, SMS or other popular methods.
Caktilika is seeking $750,000 to bring this product to market within a year. |
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