BBOXX and Aeris collaborate for IoT-powered green energy in Africa

Details: James Barton; Category: Energy & Sustainability; 27 April 2017; 6816 views

Solar solutions company BBOXX has partnered with IoT specialist Aeris to deliver clean energy to millions of people living in off-grid communities in the developing world.

Venture-backed company BBOXX designs, manufactures, distributes and finances innovative plug and play solar systems to improve access to energy across Africa and the developing world. Through a wide network of retail shops and outlets, BBOXX focuses on providing people access to electricity, while offering superior customer service.

Its core products are a range of solar powered "battery boxes" that sit in an individual's home and allows the user to power small appliances, from lights and mobile phones to refrigerators and computers. By meeting the energy needs of individuals and families - from home lighting to phone charging - the company aims to help the developing world to climb the "energy ladder."

The collaboration between Aeris and BBOXX ensures that BBOXX devices have reliable IoT connectivity no matter where in the world they are deployed, allowing products to be remotely monitored and expediting deployment timeframes.

Aeris offers IoT network connectivity in East and Central Africa, the principal areas in which BBOXX deploys. Its global support of major cellular technology standards, such as GSM, CDMA and LTE, also ensures that BBOXX will be able to deploy its devices across the world as it looks to expand globally – the company is aiming to provide 20 million people with electricity by 2020.

BBOXX will install the Aeris global subscriber identity module (SIM) at the point of manufacture, reducing both supply-chain costs and deployment time. By utilising Aeris' single global access point name (APN), the BBOXX solar system can also be deployed anywhere in the world, even in the most remote locations on a simple plug-and-play basis, removing the necessity to configure local network settings.

AerPort, Aeris' connectivity management platform for IoT devices, will grant BBOXX real-time access to data usage, alert management and device-connectivity management over the Aeris SIM life cycle.

Christopher Baker-Brian, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at BBOXX, said: “Aeris' high-quality service and IoT expertise ensure that we can offer the best clean energy solutions to off-grid communities worldwide. Additionally, Aeris' pricing structure enables us to pass these savings onto our customers, allowing us to be more competitive in our target markets."