GA winning Youth team emerged from the
Solar Jooce Renewable Energy & Entrepreneurship competition held in September
2014. The prize was a portable solar generator comprising of two lighting
points (LED and T5), DC powered table fan, phone charger, radio, and SD card
slot.
The group – DIRECT POWER (Aliyah Odufowoke and Faith Eze) are
now receiving ongoing support from Solar Jooce to carry out their business plan,
which is to generate revenue from a portable solar generator.
Solar Jooce got parents of both winners involved, and like
their children, received training on how to operate the portable solar
generator. The parents would then be in a better position to help their children
run their new small business.
Each team member agreed to take possession of the solar
generator for two weeks at a time, and report on their entrepreneurial
experience.
Team member Aliyah Odufowoke took the first turn and wrote a report after
her first two weeks with the portable solar generator.
Excerpt from Aliyah
Odufowoke’s report:
“So it would have been more convenience if the charging
points are like two each for a kind of phone.
I would be also glad if the bulb, florescent and fan will have the own separate solar panel
and battery because it has been difficult for me to rent differently to
different people at the same time. A person may want to charge his/her phones
and the solar generator would have been rented to another person”
RESULTS
A combination of verbal feedback as well as a written report
submitted indicated:
1.
That they would have preferred to have each
feature of the portable solar system separate in order to serve different
customers simultaneously. A preference was expressed, for instance, for higher
charging capacity where several phones can be charged at the same time, while
catering to other customers who may require lighting at another location.
2.
Some street vendors requested very specific
features as opposed to a bundle of features built into the solar generator.
3.
Team member Aliyah’s entrepreneurial efforts yielded
N950.00 in revenue within the two week period she had the solar kit. She plans
to reinvest her earnings in her business in order to grow.
OUR OBSERVATION
The parents getting on board has been a major asset. The
submitted report may not be sophisticated, but a lot can be gleaned from it.
Most importantly grasping the concept of solar power as a viable source of
energy and developing an entrepreneurial mindset make it all worthwhile.
NEXT STEP
The portable solar generator has been handed
over to team member Faith Eze. We await her report detailing her experience and
results.
L-R (Faith Eze, Mrs. Ada Eze, Mrs. Fatimoh Odufowoke and Aliyah Odufowoke)
