A scalable, sustainable approach to bring rural communities in emerging markets into the 21st century.
| If energy fuels an economy, connectivity brings it to life. Together, energy and connectivity form the foundation for economic progress and enable a combination of vital services to be delivered to the world’s rural villages, transforming them into hubs of modern commerce and prosperity.
The Connected Village is equipped with a plentiful supply of productive electricity, high-speed network connectivity, adequate sanitation and healthcare services, tailored educational content, financial services, and access to useful, current information designed to increase productivity. The business case for the Connected Village is strong, and the long-term opportunity is enormous. A unique partnership across sectors and disciplines to join Powerhive in deploying the Connected Village across rural communities globally presents an outstanding growth opportunity. |
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A GRID-ENABLED VILLAGE ECOSYSTEM
One of the biggest impediments to socio-economic development in emerging markets is the lack of access to basic services such as electricity, water, healthcare and internet.
At the core of The Connected Village ecosystem is Powerhive’s unique microgrid platform, which supplies the reliable, affordable power necessary to deploy a suite of vital services.
Curated information & education resources
Free, local access to e-books, Wikipedia, online education, agricultural data and other information
Affordable devices & services
Smart devices, insurance, and financial services can be provided or leased based on user data
Community services
Electricity and data enable critical services like potable water, telemedicine and security lighting
High speed, low cost internet access
Leveraging the microgrid infrastructure to provide high-bandwidth data and wifi hotspots
Productive electricity
The Powerhive micogrid provides each community with reliable, affordable AC electricity
PRODUCTIVE ELECTRICITY
Unlike other off-grid electricity providers, Powerhive sizes its microgrids to power productive uses. Productive power is a prerequisite for rural communities to improve their standards of living and grow their economies. Powerhive makes income-generating activities such as agro-food processing, irrigation, and light manufacturing possible.
As energy consumption grows to meet the increasing demand of rural economies, Powerhive’s modular systems can be easily retrofitted with additional generation, storage, and distribution capacity so that communities are never limited by their energy supply.
Business caseEven those without electricity access consume and pay for energy in some form, such as diesel, kerosene, biofuels, or disposable batteries. Powerhive displaces these energy sources with clean electricity – a lower cost, higher quality, and more convenient alternative. Commercial customers and telecom base stations are reliable anchor loads whose consistent and relatively high consumption ensures a continuous revenue stream and makes it possible to supply electricity to low-income households. |
Human impact
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BROADBAND ACCESS
A 10% increase in broadband internet access would boost economic growth in low and middle income countries by 1.38 percentage points.– The World Bank
Without a reliable electricity supply, most rural areas lack network connectivity. Powerhive electricity allows base stations to operate inexpensively so that high-speed wireless internet can be delivered within The Connected Village. Connectivity is achieved in partnership with mobile network operators and internet service providers, leveraging Powerhive’s microgrid infrastructure and deployment model. Finally, colocation services can support rapid and efficient network expansion.
Business caseBroadband internet access allows a suite of marketable services to be delivered, including telemedicine, information and learning resources, and financial services. Further, Connected Village partners use networks to collect a rich data stream of customer information that can be used to market new products and services. Broadband can be rapidly deployed across large regions, and the marginal cost is very low. |
Human impactInternet access has proven to drive economic growth and increase rural incomes through access to weather forecasts, crop prices, and farming techniques, for example. Access to information and learning resources empowers women and contributes to high quality primary education. Finally, the internet has become the most important medium for learning, culture, entertainment, and the exchange of ideas. |
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Given an energy supply and network connectivity, vital community services including telemedicine, clean water, and street lighting can be readily deployed in partnership with third-party service providers and EPC contractors. Telemedicine practitioners remotely provide medical services using mobile and data networks. Telemedicine includes electronic medical records, medicine supply management (to prevent shortages), and consultations.
Business caseTelemedicine and clean water generate direct revenue streams and drive economic growth, which leads to greater consumption of other Connected Village services. Telemedicine is a highly efficient means of delivering quality care, and helps close the gap between cost of service and patients’ ability to pay. Farmers are willing to pay for water to irrigate their crops because their yields will increase and they can grow a broader range of crops. |
Human impactWith telemedicine, patients no longer need to travel for hours to reach the nearest doctor and wait in long lines once they arrive. Further, it increases access by reducing barriers and resulting in far more care per dollar spent. Clean water reduces transmission of disease and eases the burden of carrying water long distances, which is typically borne by women. Street lighting reduces incidence of theft, robberies, and rape. |
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Safe savings facilities, payment services, access to credit, and reliable insurance mechanisms enable poor households to reduce vulnerability by smoothing consumption and mitigating risks. Because rural income cycles are particularly volatile, financial intermediation is especially important to shift purchasing power over time, as well as between net savers and net investors or spenders at any given time.– The World Bank
Network connectivity gives Connected Village residents the opportunity to thrive, but in order to fully access the world’s knowledge and resources, they need smart devices. These products are critical for efficiently delivering financial products and services that power economic development. We partner with hardware providers to finance low-cost smart devices to Connected Village residents based on electricity consumption data – a proxy indicator of creditworthiness.
Business case
There is vast unmet demand for technology and for financial products and services in emerging markets. By leveraging mobile computing, network connectivity, and Powerhive’s unique customer acquisition methodology, credit and insurance can be extended to customers with very low marginal costs. Customer accounts can be easily tracked, helping to prevent fraud, and customer data collected by smart phones can be used to predict risk and establish creditworthiness.
CURATED RESOURCES
We partner with content providers such as MIT, Khan Academy, Reuters, and McGraw Hill, to provide a selection of useful, up-to-date content that is curated specifically for its intended regional audience.
A proprietary system embedded in the microgrid power room regularly downloads content from source servers and stores it on local servers. The system manages access, letting users browse, save, and share content.
The wifi-based Local Area Network running on top of the microgrid is used to access content. Only Powerhive customers have access, which is free as part of their basic subscription and does not require customers to have an Internet connection.
Customers access the content using their own tablets and smartphones (procured through financing) or tablets owned by a local school or business.
Human impact
Primary educationExisting primary school curricula are complemented with a rage of learning resources for the classroom or independent study. |
Skills developmentFarmers learn how to boost crop yields & micro-enterprise owners learn to operate their businesses more efficiently. |
Vital information for businessCash crop farmers, for example, increase income by using data such as commodity prices, weather forecasts, and findings from the latest farming research to inform practices. |
BUSINESS-IN-A-BOX
Based on a micro-finance program at its pilot sites, Powerhive has established business cases for viable new businesses. Powerhive and its partners can empower Connected Village residents to grow their incomes by taking advantage of:
- Equipment kits for new businesses:
Powerhive can provide “starter kits” that include all of the necessary equipment to open a new business. Equipment may include incubation materials for a chicken hatchery, electric razors and hair dryers for a hair salon, or refrigerators for a snack shop or butcher. - Training and support:
Business training and assistance with bookkeeping, finding suppliers, and getting materials to market will position micro-financed businesses for success.
CONCEPT SKETCH
STAKEHOLDER OPPORTUNITIES
Powerhive is establishing a network of partners to make the Connected Village a reality. Together, we can catalyze unprecedented socio-economic change, while gaining a competitive advantage in the 21st century’s frontier markets.
Developers
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Vendors
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Investors
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Telecom operators
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Government
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Next steps:
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What can you do?
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