Our Story
Scalable, solar mini-grid solutions in Africa
Building foundations
How it all began
ARC Power’s Founder, Karl Boyce has worked in Rwanda for the past 13 years, originally on biofuels projects. He saw first-hand that one of the biggest factors limiting national development was the lack of electrical power in the communities.
Expanding Rwanda’s national power grid isn’t commercially viable as the population is distributed in small rural communities. Solar energy is not new in Rwanda. Existing solar home systems performed well, but the DC power provided was small scale and when the sun went down, the power went off.
After building relationships with the Rwandan government, the national energy company, and local communities, it became clear that off-grid energy would provide the optimal solution. In 2016 ARC Power started work.
Our aim
Ending power inequality
Whilst designing the offering, we reviewed other solar power schemes. We saw families who were unable to afford the up-front set-up and connection fees, going without electricity.
Later, those same families were paying their connected neighbours, so their children could do homework under a strong light. This observation defined our fully inclusive model. There are no upfront costs with ARC Power at all. Instead, we install light fittings and power sockets in each connected home. For free. We aim to make getting connected as simple as possible for everybody.
Our purpose
Empowering communities
- Reliable power unlocks the potential for local business growth and productivity, improved education and community prosperity, through access to the internet, appliances and light after dark.
- Expert skills are transferred to locally educated teams with a view to providing long term support for the project, key individuals and the communities.
- Our rollout target of 220 ARCs across rural Rwanda will connect circa 250K people to affordable, reliable and clean power.
Our Journey...
2016
Started to develop the concept and vision for ARC Power with our team of engineers.
2017
Created the first prototype in Johannesburg.
2018
Rolled out the first ARC Power Installation in November connecting 200 homes to power.
2019
10 ARC Power Installations will be complete by the end of the year connecting 2,000 homes.
2020
A further 60 ARC Power Installations will be complete by the end of the year connecting more than 14,000 homes.
Empowering communities through affordable, reliable and clean power.
Since 2016, we have grown steadily to our current team of 55 including 50 Rwandan staff. By 2020 we will employ 100 people, creating and safeguarding jobs in the communities we serve.
Working Together
Meet the Team
International Team
Karl Boyce
CEO
Joanna Cheong
CFO
Oliver Blakeman
CTO
Jo Hurst-Croft
Business Development Director
Felix Saro-Wiwa
Analyst
Rwanda Team
Charlie Wilkinson
Operations Manager
Joana Kabanyana
Survey Lead
Penny-Jane Cooke
Compliance & Capacity Building Manager
Pacifique Nsabimana
Distribution Manager
Emmanuel Gatoya
Distribution Lead
Isabelle Niyonizera
Systems & ARC Team Lead
Pamela Bigirimana
Customer Services Lead
Annabel Johnstone
ARC & Systems Manager
Elisabeth Mukantwali
Accounts Assistant
Yvette Uwamugira
Assets Assistant
Jean Claude Barayavuga
Distribution Team
Theogene Urimubenshi
Distribution Team
