SolarNow Issue 2: 5% Bond
£110,525 | 42 | 0 |
£300 invested
Each £300 invested through SolarNow will enable a Ugandan family or business to buy a solar home system in affordable instalments over 24 months.
300 families
Your investment will help SolarNow to provide clean energy to 300 families and 50 businesses in Uganda.
Since 2011, SolarNow has been transforming the lives of East Africans by providing rural families with access to quality, sustainable solar energy solutions at affordable prices. Your investment will help to provide clean energy to a further 300 families and 50 businesses.
This project benefits from match funding from UK aid. UK aid has provided an up-front match of £50,000, meaning that for every £1 invested into this project by the crowd an additional £1 will be invested through match funding.
About SolarNow
Key product information
Investment target: £100,000
Minimum investment: £50
Maximum investment: No maximum
Maturity: 24 months
Expected interest rate: 5% per annum
Interest payment frequency: 6 monthly
Notional repayment: 6 monthly
Financial instrument: Unsecured interest bearing bond
Security: Unsecured
Key risks
This is a bond issued by a single company (rather than a savings product) and therefore it is recommended that you are careful with the amount you invest. You must read the investment memorandum (provided below) where a full statement of risks is presented.
Documents
What the project investment will enable
Each £300 invested will enable SolarNow to make one of the following systems available to rural Ugandan families or businesses that would otherwise be out of their financial reach.
Using the raise, SolarNow can purchase panels, batteries and installation materials for roughly 350 solar systems. These systems are sold to households (70%) and small businesses (30%). These systems are used for lighting, phone charging, television and small fridges. Micro-entrepreneurs can use these systems to charge phones for a small fee, light up their shop, sell cold drinks, or run a barbershop. This leads to a higher income and less dependency on an otherwise purely agricultural income.
The funding allows SolarNow to procure materials, including 700 batteries and 700 solar panels, that are required for their systems. SolarNow's systems are modular in nature and on average have 2 panels and batteries. Our clients can however start with a smaller system and upgrade it over time. All systems are installed by SolarNow technicians and have 5 years of free service. To make this affordable, clients can get 2 years of credit to repay the system in monthly instalments.
SolarNow's Pay As You Go model enables customers to pay back the cost of the system over time (usually 24 months) after which they fully own the system and can then continue to use this for free. The solar home systems also come with a 5 year warranty and 5 years free servicing.
SolarNow
SolarNow will utilise the funds across Uganda where only 7% of people in rural areas have access to mains electricity. Working through its 45 branches indicated on the map opposite, SolarNow will be able to use the £100,000 of investment to purchase and transport a container of approximately 300 solar home systems and 50 businesses in a box which will be used to provide life changing solar energy to families and businesses.
Social and environmental impact
Solar home systems change lives. Not only do they reduce the energy expenses for off grid families; they also improve the access to information, as families can charge their mobile phones, watch television or even connect to the internet, which stimulates development, equality, education and promotes financial inclusion.
Social impact
A recent study commissioned by SolarNow found that;
97%
of customers felt that their quality of life had improved very much
81%
of customers rated SolarNow Pay As You Go solar home system as very good or good in terms of value for money
96%
of families felt safer
71%
of customers had increased the opening hours of their business on average by 2 hours
Environmental impact
SolarNow has calculated the environmental impact of installing 350 solar home systems as follows;
1500+
people will enjoy clean energy access
80%
of customers who used kerosene before have eliminated usage
1.2tonnes
of CO2e is being averted annually per household
Offer Documents
SolarNow Offer Document - Issue 2 (Log In to download)