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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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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Raghav Mittal, Co-Founder