Payment Plans are the bottleneck of clean energy

Clean energy solutions such as Solar and Energy Storage, Energy Efficiency techs such as efficient air conditioning, and energy management tech including smart meters and digitalized energy management systems. These sound like exactly what you want in your home, business, or community in Nigeria, where electricity access is quite dirty (old diesel generators, anyone?), inefficiently consumed, and poorly managed by consumers who lack the right information. These technologies are here and accessible to all. So what’s the holdup? Why do so many people want to transition to better energy technologies in the world’s largest Distributed Energy Market but still can’t make it happen?

Well, it turns out the key bottleneck is financing or access to instalment payment plans that translate large capital expenditures of clean, smart energy management technology into manageable payment plans for everyday consumers. The financial technology revolution is here, and it’s enabling all manners of business to be done online with payment technologies making money fluid for African consumers and financing technologies channelling stranded capital into the hands of consumers who need this capital to improve the quality of their lives, to expand their businesses, or run initiatives. These two trends make it possible to tackle the key bottleneck of the clean energy industry. And that’s exactly what SunFi is doing.

SunFi has built Africa’s first platform that is built by energy providers with payment plan experience for clean energy and energy management solutions. SunFi is building technology which helps energy providers serve more consumers by providing a digital workspace featuring payment plan tools and features that enable energy providers to access intelligent recommendations of energy solutions for consumers improving the ability of energy providers to sell their solutions to consumers.

As an energy provider, you know what it feels like to finally figure out the right solution for your consumer and deliver that stellar sales pitch only to find out the customer can’t afford to pay upfront for the entire solution. What does he ask for? “Can I pay in installments?”. Every distributed energy provider is familiar with this scenario. The first thing the energy provider does is turn to its bank to see if it can help provide a loan to the energy consumer for the solution. The problem is the bank needs the customer to open an account with it in order to access this loan, and even after going through the sometimes painful process of doing so, the consumer might still not be qualified for a loan from the bank. But this doesn't mean the right department in the bank does not want the consumer’s business or the right energy consumer’s business. The banks or financial partners just need a platform through which trusted energy providers which solid projects and great energy consumers can be accessed resulting in low default rates on repayments. Until SunFi, this did not exist, but now it does.

This means financial partners seeking to support the development of clean energy and smart energy providers now have a trusted platform through which they can reach the best distributed energy providers and their customers in Nigeria. For energy providers, this is awesome. Instead of being able to serve 5 solar or inverter customers a month, an energy provider will be able to reach multiples of that number due to access to payment plan solutions from SunFi. More customers will transition to better, cleaner energy technology because customers can access their desired energy solution now and but pay for this solution over time. Access benefits now, spread payments over time. Hmmm - this results in a Win Win Win Win. The energy provider wins because it can do more business, consumers win because they can now access their desired clean and smart energy solutions, the investors win because SunFi reduces repayment risk, and the planet wins because millions more consumers can now transition to clean energy sources.

Make no mistake, energy-financial technology is the bridge to transitioning millions of consumers in Africa and around the world to more economically and environmentally beneficial solutions. People, their businesses, and their communities deserve better energy solutions that are affordable but also better for the world. SunFi is rising to that challenge. Reach out to schedule your demo to learn more about how we can help you serve more energy customers through our SunFi workspace for energy providers.