As you read this text, you are certainly sitting in front of a computer, mobile phone or tablet, perhaps sipping at a nice cup of tea or coffee while enjoying your reading – and your device is most probably plugged into the next socket. We urban dwellers and internet junkies are spoiled by omnipresent electricity that comes out of the socket whenever we want: just plug in and you’re good to go. But what if there is no socket in sight because the central electrical network does not extend to your region?

The story of Mobisol began four years ago in Tanzania and Ruanda, two countries in which around 80 per cent of the population have no access to the central electricity network. Back then, international subsidies had dropped the price of solar technology to a point that almost anyone worldwide could afford it. In Germany, innumerable homeowners took advantage of the situation, outfitting their roofs with solar panels to generate their own electricity.

In Berlin, Mobisol founder Thomas Gottschalk, who had travelled extensively in East Africa, began to wonder: If solar energy works for cloudy and rainy Germany, how many more people could benefit from it in the sun-drenched countries of Tanzania and Rwanda?

Thomas knew that most people there use kerosene or diesel generators to produce electricity, which not only pollutes the atmosphere, but also severely endangers their health. His considerations gave rise to Mobisol: A start-up that should bring green solar energy to East Africa, an independent source of electricity with no negative health implications.

If solar energy works for cloudy and rainy Germany, how many more people could benefit from it in the sun-drenched countries of Tanzania and Rwanda?

When a customer walks into a Mobisol shop, employees first talk to them about their specific needs: Is a customer looking to power a small or large home? Do they plan to open a small shop? The range of products is designed for a wide array of applications, and customers can chose just the right package from the smallest module powering three lights, a radio and a few mobile phones for nine dollars a month to a business kit for 45 dollars a month. Then an appointment is made with a Mobisol installer who sets up the system at the customer’s home and voilà: the household can start producing its own green energy.

Guaranty? Never heard of it.

“The most difficult part is the last-mile delivery,” Thomas explains. “That is getting the equipment directly to customers in areas that are sometimes very remote, and organizing maintenance there as well.” This is made possible by a technology designed exclusively for Mobisol: All Mobisol systems have a built-in database that tests the system every 10 minutes. If a defect occurs, a pre-installed SIM/GMS card reports the problem directly to the responsible technician. “Mobisol often knows there is a problem even before the customer does.”

When the technician gets the message on his mobile phone, it informs him exactly of the kind of defect he will have to fix. Therefore he can drive directly to the customer with the right parts and does not have to travel back and forth. “We don’t repair anything on location; we just replace parts.”

In order to offer this level of technical support, Mobisol trains in-house installers and repair people at the Mobisol Academy in Arusha, Tanzania and Nyamata, Rwanda. Around 150 Academy graduates work in Tanzania and roughly 50 in Rwanda on commission and drive out to customers whenever a problem occurs.

One of the unique services Mobisol offers is a three-year guaranty. “Most of our customers have never heard of a product guaranty,” Thomas tells. “There is no exact word for it in Swahili. We always have to explain the concept first.” The call center is also a new concept to many. Customers can call 15-hours a day for free with questions or to report a failure.