d.light Reaches 500,000th Pay-As-You-Go Customer, Launches Access Initiative

d.light, a for-profit social enterprise that manufactures and distributes solar lighting and power products in the developing world, today announced it reached sales of 500,000 financed units, providing modern energy access to 2.5 million people on a pay-as-you-go basis.

In response to this success, d.light has launched the Energy Access Accelerator, an initiative focused on integrating the company’s growing range of solar power products and services with a diversity of payment and distribution systems. Known as pay-as-you-go solar, d.light’s financed solar systems are helping to transform the lives of 1.2 billion people in the developing world without access to energy.

“As pioneers in pay-as-you-go solar products and services since 2009, we’ve learned that base-of-the-pyramid consumers can and will pay for modern power solutions—and that energy access is not a ‘one size fits all’ market,” said Donn Tice, Chairman and CEO. 

“d.light’s Energy Access Accelerator will be focused on scaling distributed energy solutions for the diversity of energy impoverished geographies. Scale requires a consistent user experience, reliable energy and flexible payment options.” To date, d.light has sold over 6 million products around the world, impacting the lives of more than 36 million people. Pay-as-you-go products currently represent 20 percent of d.light’s sales, but are expected to grow to 30 percent in the coming year.

d.light’s Energy Access Accelerator will focus on integrating advanced product technology and service offerings for a full range of payment systems, including microloans, self-help groups, top-up cards and mobile money. The group will be led by d.light’s President, Ned Tozun, and Managing Director of Global Consumer Finance, Sateesh Kumar. Mr. Tozun, who co-founded d.light in 2006, will focus on technology enablement of pay-as-you-go.

Mr. Kumar will leverage his past experience as Executive Vice President of SKS Microfinance, one of the largest public microfinance institutions in the world, to develop consumer financial services and microfinance partnerships. The group will also leverage the talents of New Business Initiatives Manager Karl Skare, to apply financing solutions to a broad range of products and services, as well as CFO Al Wood and Director of Financial Planning Jill Macari, to mobilize capital.