SunAlphaEnergy Pvt. Ltd.

Solarizing Energy Needs

Dc2A C8B8

Authors

Shankar Bansal

Shankar Bansal

Akshay Gupta

Akshay Gupta

Kuvam Bansal

Kuvam Bansal

School

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay - Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay - Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management

Professor

Ashish Pandey

Ashish Pandey

Global Goals

7. Affordable and Clean Energy 13. Climate Action

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Summary

Recently, TERI University (The Energy & Resources Institute) headed by Dr. RK Pachauri (Nobel Laureate, IPCC, United Nations), switched to solar energy on a solar leasing model by SunAlpha Energy. Impact: 67,000 kWh of solar energy per year, 250+ students consume clean energy every day in classrooms and hostels, 1.5 million expected units over long term, offsetting 1,344 tonnes of carbon emissions & energy cost savings to TERI of INR 15 million at zero upfront investment. The project employed 8 blue-collared employees for plant construction and 2 trained labour for operation & maintenance.

Together with its Singapore extension (Raghav's, founder SunAlpha, extended family business), the company boasts 700kWp of operating assets across SE Asia. In India, SunAlpha Energy has raised INR 10 million for the first 100kWp of solar leasing projects in India, successfully invested and constructed the power plants generating 0.15MWh of clean energy every year for the next 25 years. The company has a healthy pipeline of 10MWp of solar PV installation through the FY E2016, with over 5MWp on zero-capex leasing model in addition to leveraging SunAlpha's deep project management knowledge to provide project management consultancy services for an upcoming 500MWp investment in the state of Punjab, India next year.

Innovation

Finding an alternate source of energy that is clean, cheap & sustainable. Solar cells use an abundant, free & non-discriminatory source of power - sun. However, assembling a solar plant is capital intensive. Converting solar from a product to a service where the end consumer pays for the power the system produces, instead of the panels itself, pay lesser per unit of electricity compared to utility tariff, reduce grid dependency by generating its own captive power, and reducing the burden on local generating company incentivizes one to switch to solar energy as a long term solution without locking in large upfront capital.

Solarizing Energy Needs

Inspiration

Energy is a pressing requirement from day to day activities to running global operations of businesses. The impact is torturous to our environment. SunAlpha Energy is answering this critical problem. It was inspired to leave a lasting difference in this smoke spitting industrial machinery by offering a clean sustainable alternative source of energy - by harnessing the power of sun. SunAlpha completely fulfils 2 of the 17 SDGs and exactly checks all the requirements for A2F. Its revenue model is already looking uplifting, which is inspiring further commitment towards the goal.

Overall impact

Solar power purchase agreements ensure a continuous & predictable stream of high-quality & insured future cash flows from the sale of solar power to the consumer, enabling future portfolio securitisation and access to progressively lower cost of capital. Improving supply chain & reducing soft costs, Economy of scale & pipeline funding will facilitate holding profit margins as the sector becomes commoditized as competition picks up.

A2F Requirement Check:

1. For-Profit

2. 3+ Years

3. Fulfils 2 SDGs

4. Scalable

5. Has positive impact

Business benefit

This service model innovation has huge benefits for the business as adoption rates will increase significantly. Many new adopters who were otherwise constrained by the capital cost requirements can easily avail the service. Therefore, this model of innovation is essentially increasing the market size for this particular business area which have a huge impact on the overall business. The size increment will also be significant as it has been an entry barrier for many of the potential customers.

Social and environmental benefit

Business has a whole has significant impact on Society and Environment. Since, climate change and clean energy are important global goals, this business initiative is directly impacting both of these goals. Increasing the production and consumption of Solar energy and bringing it from industrial use to mainstream commercial use it will decrease the carbon footprint per person significantly if applied on a scale. Therefore, it will have a positive impact on Society and Environment at large.

Interview

Raghav Mittal, Co-Founder

Business information

SunAlphaEnergy Pvt. Ltd.

SunAlphaEnergy Pvt. Ltd.

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, IN
Business Website: http://www.sunalphaenergy.com
Year Founded: 2014
Number of Employees: 2 to 10
SunAlpha provides solar energy at no upfront cost of system installation. They take the cost and risks of Solar PV. With SunAlpha’s Pay As You Consume PPA model, we make solar energy available to businesses, schools, universities & industries at a lower cost than they pay for the conventional grid electricity. Our solar plants are built for life using first-grade engineering and tier-1 material. Over time, we have built the best practices in the industry on safety guidelines & labor management. SunAlpha Energy is a sister concern of Singapore’s Solar Horizon Pte. Ltd., a homegrown solar leasing business, founded by SunAlpha’s founders’ extended family in Singapore.