The BuffaloGrid Hub charges mobile phones. Customers simply SMS to pay, and it unlocks a charge port.

It is solar powered.

Grid power will take a generation to reach most off-grid rural people. A new "microgrid" system is needed for electrical power. BuffaloGrid's Hubs form a payment backbone for microgrids, allowing the cashless dispensing of power for phones and lighting.

BuffaloGrid's first text-to-charge solar prototypes were deployed in February 2013, with the help of the Bungokho Development Centre. They are still running, sending data back to us.

The prototype units were deployed in Uganda, where 80% of people have access to mobile phones, but less than 5% have access to power

Our BuffaloGrid Hubs in rural Uganda are run by coffee farmers. Their businesses had improved thanks to their mobile phones but were struggling to charge their phones. BuffaloGrid makes things easier for them.

There are half a billion off-grid phones in the developing world. This isn't just a spectacular number, in rural areas of sub-Sahara Africa, powering a mobile phone costs a day every week.

In remote villages, almost everyone has a mobile phone. They are vital for security, business activities and personal connectivity.

BuffaloGrid hub is made for small villages. It uses existing trust relationships to enable one person to become a BuffaloGrid entrepreneur, who will bring convenient charging to their community.

BuffaloGrid was founded on the goal of bringing power to people through mutually beneficial commerce.

Just like global success of mobile phones, we know that word gets around when people find a good thing. BuffaloGrid is making a charging system just as catchy.