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As if the solar power gods were smiling down upon us with sympathy, a new app is on the horizon to help energy-deprived South Africans buy prepaid solar electricity.

With the latest onslaught of Stage 2 load shedding coming our way this week, the news couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

Nigerian-born entrepreneur Tonye Irims, wanting to “make solar electricity accessible and just as affordable as your home WiFi”, has been working on an on-demand solar app via his energy solutions company, WiSolar, for three years.

Not only is Eskom’s nonsense driving this new era of solar, but also the country’s growing focus on renewable sources of power and disinvestment in coal.

Image: WiSolar

With continual power cuts, a surge in solar is inevitable, and people with their finger on this pulse, like Irims, see how companies and households are increasingly turning to renewable energy to get off the grid, per IT Web:

“The mission is solar electricity for everyone, while eliminating friction and fragmentation in the residential marketplace,” Irims tells ITWeb.

“In order for customers to purchase prepaid solar electricity tokens conveniently to reload their system from anywhere in the world and load remotely, a mobile app was required. Our app is in alpha mode and will be live on the Apple and Google Play stores in a few weeks.”

He says the app will enable prepaid solar customers to buy recharge tokens for their solar power and they will also be automatically enrolled on the platform as merchants to sell packages and earn commissions.

One can get a solar system installed at their property through WiSolar’s current model, and then pay for it over as long as 72 months through prepaid power purchases.

Sounds like a plan.

Irims says that solar electricity sells at around 90 cents per kWh now, a truly low-cost clean energy alternative, per BusinessInsider:

“The developers, which will be the guys that have the users in their estate using their prepaid system, will also be able to earn commission on every recharge. Once the end-user recharges, a fraction of the recharge goes to the developer, and the rest is payment for the solar electricity,” Irims said…

The WiSolar app instantly lets customers see the remaining days and kWh on their account. They can also track their usage on the app, and view their usage trends, which also helps project their future recharges.

It also helps reduce the financial pressure that comes with installing solar panels and a full solar power system at home.

No exact date has yet been set but we say bring it on.

[sources:businessinsider&itweb]