Innovation

The main focus behind this innovation is to bring affordable, clean and efficient into the market of Ecuador. As Airis is the biggest enterprise in the Industry in Ecuador, meaning that the prices can be more manageable as it enters in the concept of Economics of Scale. This brings a direct connection to three SDGS, 7. Affordable and Clean Energy, 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and 13. Climate Action.

In an intuitive way it is simple to understand why SDG number 7 has a direct link with this Innovation with Airis, as their main focus is bringing solar energy to the population of Ecuador. This creates a positive consequence towards climate action, which is SDG 13, as more people get into the process of migrating into solar energy, it should reduce the carbon print that Ecuador produces towards the world. The indirect connection into, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, as the process of installing and making it will help reduce the carbon emissions in the long run, which results in a responsible way of making energy and consuming it.

There other direction that can be looked at is the path into a direct connection to, SDG Number 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and as an indirect connection towards, SDG number 10: Reduced Inequalities. Let’s dive into SDG 9 that began when the company started in Ecuador, 2015. In 2015, there was little to none Solar Panel Industry and the entry of Airis made opportunities for an new industry by innovation and new infrastructure of the energy market. Finally, the Reduction of Inequalities, this innovation has opened the door for more people to access clean energy, which increases the access to these options at a more affordable price.

Inspiration

The motivation behind this innovation is Airis Solution Ecuador, which has some main purposes. The first and most critical one is the ability of giving people a return on investment, meaning that by spending an affordable, but a good amount into solar energy there will be a point that it pays itself. “If someone invests $1,000, they could save around $250 per year on electricity bills. In four years, the system has paid for itself — and from that point on, the energy produced is essentially free”- Javier Acosta.

This shows that on the mission to make it affordable and reducing inequalities by making it accessible to most people, it shows that even if someone is making low amounts of money, they will see eventually a return on their money that would last forever, and with the proper planning it can be affordable for most people.

Javier Acosta and Aris' solutions found inspiration for the creation of a new project, which was already proposed to the Ecuadorian Government, that came from a desire to create a sustainable city and help the environment. He shared that this was one of their favorites, the project consists in the modernization of the public lightning system. “One of our favorites is public lighting modernization project we’ve presented to the Ecuadorian government and utility companies. Currently, most public lighting uses sodium vapor lamps, which are outdated, energy-inefficient, and emit orange light. Our proposal replaces them with high-efficiency LED luminaires equipped with remote management (tele management) technology. This means that the entire lighting system of a city — or even the country — could be controlled from a computer. We could turn individual lights on or off, adjust brightness levels, schedule energy-saving modes, and even detect theft or malfunctions automatically. These smart lights would finally provide accurate energy consumption data, something currently estimated rather than measured” – Javier Acosta. This reflects their commitment to sustainability and innovations for a better world.

With that in mind, these are some of the aspects that show why someone is doing this type of business. It is a business that is very profitable, but at the same time it gives the opportunity for a better society welfare.

Overall impact

The first and obvious impact of the innovation is bringing access to new a form of energy, which will not only help people spend less money on petrol energy, but at the same time when there is some type of energy shortage in the country, this is a clean way and reliable way to have access to energy, as the sun will never be unavailable to provide us with energy. In the short term it solves uncertainty for enterprises and everyone that chooses this type of energy source.

As it is well known, at this time it is impossible to only rely on sustainable energy, however having it as partial usage and a backup, reduces carbon print production and gives a certainty that there won’t be a lack of energy. And that has been a security that many people have received from Ecuador through Airis Solutions Ecuador, and as the main company of Solar Energy in Ecuador, it means that most people that have switched to solar panels, it is likely that it was from Airis.

In the long term this gives an ability to make most or all services in the country come from sustainable energy, by that reducing the carbon print as close to none as possible, in the human made that is produced. Airis has proposed to the government to implement solar charged street lights, which could analyze how much energy is being used, and control the amount that is being used when it isn't necessary, by lowering the lights remotely.

These are some of the aspects behind the innovation being made by Airis Solution, since 2015 bringing a better world to the Ecuadorian population, by integrating renewable energy at an affordable cost.

Business benefit

As Airis Solutions were the ones who introduced renewable energy technologies with their photovoltaic projects, for example: they are the only ones that do non-invasive solar panels installations, Bifacial panels that capture the energy from both sides of the panels which increase generation up to 10%, they have batteries that have around 8000 cycle charges, which is around 10-20 years of lifespan. They have expanded their operations in Ecuador and opened opportunities for the citizens, firms, and industries by having accessible prices which helps the company to be more recognized and trusted as an energy efficient company, which leads to sustained revenue growth.

This Innovation has also helped Airis to grow as an organization as they become a bigger company, they had to create new fields, like new administrative and technical positions, which goes from the engineers and installers to the sales personal and the customer services teams, that are trained with programs so that they can be updated on the new technologies evolving constantly, which helps the employees to be good professionals. They have a new Business model like PPA (Purchase Power Agreement), that expands their financial opportunities and also makes renewable energy accessible to people.

Integrated solutions like solar panels, LED lighting, batteries and their smart systems, made Airis not only an investor, but also an attraction to investors and partnership with TIER 1 companies like JA Solar, Solis inverters, Huawei and Afore. They standardize high quality products with these TIER 1 companies, to ensure that customers get the best products and also safety. Airis have built a long-term relationship with their clients via warranties, to ensure their financial stability and growth within the renewable energy sector in Ecuador.

Social and environmental benefit

Airis Solutions Ecuador have made innovations that benefit society and the environment by producing technologies that incentivizes the use of clean and renewable energy which also contributes to the reduction in the fossil fuel dependency. This is all achieved using solar panels and their newly energy-efficient systems, that also helps households and businesses to lower their bill and consumption of electricity, that ends up helping them financially and reducing the carbon footprint generated by the traditional energy consumption system. They track tons of C02 emissions avoided per kilowatt-hour generated, which is an indicator of how the company helps to improve air quality and the mitigation of climate change.

Airis Solutions with their projects help the creation of local employment, even though most of their equipment is imported all installations, operations and maintenance are made by local workers. They also measure the training hours, which are the hours dedicated to the upskilling and education of their employees. They try to make the source of materials and services locally to reinforce the contribution to Ecuador’s development. With these new job opportunities they are helping Ecuador to economic growth and help in the reduction of unemployment.

They had one promising sustainable project which involved changing all Ecuador’s public lighting systems, as their old system used outdated, energy-inefficient sodium vapor lamps. They proposed to the Ecuadorian government this project, which changes the old system with a new one that involves high-efficient LED luminaires with remote management technology. Therefore all can be controlled with a computer, then you can detect quicker when something fails and provide energy-saving. This project self-finances as their implementation will be equivalent to building a 1000 MW hydroelectric plant.

Their innovations make Airis a contributor to the SDG’s: 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12(Responsible Consumption and Production) , 13(Climate Action).

Interview

Javier Acosta, CEO