ILUMEXICO
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ILUMEXICO
, DIF, DF
1‐5 years
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I studied engineering and inmediately got more involved energy and environment, I co-founded the student group for energy and environment and started working in a Research Institute on “Impulsa IV” a renewable energy technologies program for saline water desalination. I then got a job at GE Energy where I met my co-founder and we wanted to create something on our own. I attended a conference in Canada where I heard about Renewable Energy and its relationship to development. We started doing research in Mexico on Solar Energy and Rural Development and then decided it was what we wanted to do!
Sanitation and Hygiene, Greenhouse Gases, Supply Chain Micro-entrepreneurs.
Rural Mexican households with little or no access to the electric grid, usually indigenous, that have an income of around 150-400 USD per month. They usually live in communities below 1000 inhabitants, in households of 4-7 people. We engage local population in the whole process of installation and maintenance, they receive specialized training and participate actively throughout the program. We work with them in complementary subjects such as financial inclusion and environmental awareness.
Up to date we have installed over 2100 solar home systems in 11 states in Mexico. We have installed 20 schools (with computers, lighting and some with satellite internet) and 4 community centers. We have worked in over 100 communities in diverse municipalities in the country. These have replaced diesel lamps, kerosene and candles, equivalent to an environmental impact of 340 TONS of CO2 per year (calculated through emission factors). We evaluate our programs with respect to the impact on the Millennium Development Goals. In terms of savings, we observe a average 18% of total monthly income saved by displacing other energy sources (candles and diesel) and an increase in 10-12% due to increased working hours. With education and schools, we see an increase in 2-3 study hours for children. We also observe a qualitative improvement in health by reducing indoor air pollution. See attachment
We wish to reach 20,000 families in the next two years, through a network of 20 rural branches. We will leverage private and public support from goverments, companies, foundations and universities. We will create a replicable methodology and create the tools to grow a large business, empowering local community members. We also plan on creating a suite of add-on products for solar and provide larger solutions for a constant growing energy demand and needs. We are creating innovative services such as extended maintenance plans and solar home system rescues (a program where people can salvage their old government-provided solar systems that are not working), all of this in order to create a sustainable and replicable system.
Our business model, even though it has used subsidies and donations, is designed to work on a 100% market based approach. We provide affordable credits to users so they can purchase our technology. Each rural branch requires 10,000 USD investment and a monthly cost of 1500 USD, and solar home systems are sold in a range of 200-800 USD on credit. If we have 25+ clients every month we reach positive cash flow by month 6.
This is our first formal venture, however in the past I founded the SOEMA (student group for energy and environment) that now has over 400 members and continues to grow. Additionally, I developed a project that did not kick of on trying to use used cooking oil for biodiesel generation for university transport. Within Ilumexico we have created 2 different businesses: Tech development and rural electrification.