Innovation

Mr. Jim saw how light is so essential to people's daily lives, for the kids to continue studying at night, for family members to continue doing chores, and even for their livelihood to continue and get protected even at night. This access to light is something that rural areas have limited access to.

In 2010, Mr. Jim Ayala created Hybrid Social Solutions Inc. (HSSI) to provide gridless energy solutions for people in rural areas with equal opportunities to reach their dreams. The word solar was omitted from the company's name because they believe this is just the start of their social solution. Solar products like solar lamps are new in the market, posing two big problems: 1) They are too expensive for people in rural areas to afford; 2) These items usually lack good after-sales service since most suppliers need access to rural areas. HSSI solved these by partnering with microfinancing for the less fortunate to make these innovations accessible. They also ensured that it was durable and waterproof so fishermen could use it for their livelihood.

Now, with HSSI, they can provide solar lamps to ensure rural areas can achieve their God-given talents. Additionally, these lamps have charging port capabilities for their phones, as this is one of Mr. Jim's observations that all people in rural areas have phones but will need to walk miles to charge them. With this innovation, they will save time traveling and will not need to fight over a single light source. They will not need to buy kerosene to light up their lamps, saving them around 4,000 pesos monthly.

Studying at night made possible

Inspiration

"We're focus of energy access, because in ASEAN 130 million people have no electricity, but nowadays there are super efficient if were able to get them into the hands of the people, really helps them uplift their lives: education goes up, livelihood goes up, healthcare goes up" - Jim Ayala.

Growing up, Mr. Jim was raised in a comfortable family, studied and worked abroad, but made sure to live out what his dad told him before passing away when he was young, which was to return to the Philippines and help its development. After working at McKinsey & Company and becoming president and CEO of Ayala Land, he started to question, "Why am I not spending my energy to help the poor?" He then realized that most businesses neglect the poorest one-third of humanity, leading him "to dedicate the rest of my life to serving the ministry that God has called me to, which was to uplift the life of the poor." This innovation of gridless energy solution will be able to help them reach their God-given potential and help this nation in its development.

Since one of the major problems of people living in rural areas is money, Mr. Jim needed to help make the products affordable for them to invest in. He then partnered up with organizations that are working in the communities already. This could be through NGOs, cooperatives, and microfinance institutions. Solarists from HSSI will present and sell their products through these partners. This partnership makes the product more affordable for the market to buy. For example, a solar lamp costs 1400 Philippine pesos, but through the MFI, families could get it in a loan program and would only pay 100 pesos monthly for the next 15 months. They can now use the product while paying for it weekly.

Overall impact

"... it just makes all the difference to people, going from 0 lights to 1 light makes difference than for us we have 20 lights and add 1 more light doesn't make much difference but for them it is. " - Jim Ayala

HSSI does not just provide solar lanterns but also other products like solar home systems and solar fans. Some models allow them to charge their gadgets. Nanay (Mother) Mercedes, a 68-year-old widow with ten children, runs an online business selling baked goods. Before, she would spend 100 pesos to travel an hour and waste a few hours to charge her phone and connect with her clients. Through HSSI's solar home system, she can now freely continue her business and run her household without the need to leave home. This convenience helped her grow her business by being able to post more, collect orders, and deliver their products through meetups.

Nanay Amelia, an experienced midwife in Boso Boso, Antipolo City, has encountered challenging times when electricity interruptions occur while helping women give birth. She acquired an SKH40+ solar unit that comes with two tube lights and a USB cable to charge mobile devices to aid her in the delivery room to have a bright and reliable light source for the safe delivery of her patients.

Nanay Mercedes and Nanay Amelia are just some stories of how solar products affect the families and communities around them. Every month, they collect stories, and every year, they celebrate "Impact Day" where they share stories of how the innovation impacted their lives. This is then categorized into 7 categories: savings, additional income, better health, safety, education, communications, and others. Winners per category will be able to receive solar products from HSSI. The company believes that these stories matter more than the money they have earned. Mr. Jim would say “hindi mahalaga ang kinita natin, ang tunay na mahaalaga ay how much we have been able to help.” ("It doesn't matter how much we have earned, what really matters is how much we have been able to help.")

Business benefit

HSSI has not just been transforming communities by their use of the items that they offer but also gives opportunities to the community to be involved in the business structure. As mentioned earlier, one of the challenges is the after-service of these solar products. HSSI partners with community fathers who possess basic electrical work knowledge. They give out training on how to repair the systems so that when the community needs something, they don’t need to travel to Manila to repair the item since the hub can fix it already. These partnerships created a livelihood for the fathers in town. They have also been building solar libraries where students can borrow solar lamps and pay a few pesos for the maintenance of the units. This pahiram program aims to help the students finish their requirements at home and for them to be able to study at home. The collected money will be reinvested in more lamps for the solar library.

Now that Mr. Ayala is 61, he has dedicated his years to spreading Godly values to people. His motto right now for HSSI is “scaling for the kingdom.” He uses HSSI to allow rural areas to reach their God-given potential and share God’s hope by hiring missionary pastors and placing them in the hubs. These missionary pastors support the community, Solarists, and other employees by offering Godly counseling and sharing the gospel with the people.

They currently have 15 solar hubs in different parts of the Philippines. They are employing 150 full-time employees covering 350 branches. Every year, they have expanded to new products to offer and solve more social issues for the rural communities. Later, they are looking into expanding to different social solutions like clean water.

Social and environmental benefit

"If you reduce kerosine over eight years that is one ton of carbon dioxide converted." - Jim Ayala.

This social solution has also improved people's quality of life. Students are more drawn to studying, dedicating 45% more time to academics. This increased commitment to education enhances their learning experience and has broader implications for their future and, consequently, their family's well-being. As students become more motivated to read and learn, a ripple effect extends beyond the classroom, influencing their test scores and shaping their family's financial situation.

Also, through solar energy, communities can work more hours, increasing their mobility and family income. Sari-sari stores are now able to operate more extended hours. Farmers can now protect their crops by driving away pests at night. With light, fishermen can attract more fish to the sea.

This doesn't just benefit society, but it also saves the environment as each lantern reduces as much as 130 kilograms of greenhouse gases per year. The company has also decreased approximately 64,000 tons of carbon dioxide since it started.

HSSI might have existed for 13 years, but they are just starting. It has served almost one million families and will continue serving the country, one light at a time.

Interview

Randy Landicho, General Manager