With millions of Nigerians still lacking access to reliable electricity, the search for affordable, locally driven energy solutions has become increasingly urgent. Against this backdrop, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have developed the Powerbox SE, a solar-powered energy system designed to provide dependable electricity to off-grid households and small businesses while reducing reliance on costly fuel generators.
In this interview, Hafiz Alaka, associate dean (Research and Enterprise) at Hertfordshire Business School and director of the University’s Big Data Tech & Innovation Lab, speaks with Business a.m.’s Joy Agwunobi on the inspiration behind the Powerbox SE, how artificial intelligence is being integrated into the technology, the lessons from its pilot deployment in Kaduna State, and his vision for scaling locally manufactured clean energy solutions across Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
You grew up in Nigeria and have experienced some of the country’s electricity challenges firsthand. How did your personal experiences influence the decision to develop the Powerbox SE, and what specific gap in Nigeria’s energy landscape were you hoping to address?
I grew up in Nigeria, where unreliable electricity wasn’t an abstract policy issue, it was daily life. Grid power reaches barely half the population and is erratic even where it exists, and the usual fallback, diesel or petrol generators, is expensive, noisy, and polluting. Imported solar systems are priced out of reach for the households and small businesses who need them most, largely because of import duties and currency pressures. The gap I set out to close was affordable, reliable, locally made clean power for the people the current market doesn’t serve.
The Powerbox SE is described as a locally adaptable solar powered solution for off grid communities. What makes the technology different from existing solar energy solutions currently available in Nigeria, particularly in terms of affordability, reliability, and local production?
Where most solar systems in Nigeria are imported complete, at import driven prices, PowerBox SE is built around local content to bring the cost down. The entry model, the Nano, starts at N320,000 including a 150W solar panel, enough to run a 32-inch TV, lighting, and small appliances, and portable enough to move between home and shop. It uses a lithium-ion battery rated for 3,000 charge cycles, a pure sine wave inverter at 99 percent efficiency, and full protection against overload, short circuit, and reverse polarity so it’s not a stripped-down budget product, it’s built to the same electrical standard as far more expensive imported units, just priced for the local market.
It’s also smart: we’ve built AI models that forecast expected solar generation over the coming days from weather data, and use that to tell users what they can safely run and for how long so people can plan around the box rather than being caught out by an empty battery.
The first phase of deployment has been carried out in communities in Kaduna State. What have you observed from users of the Powerbox so far, and what measurable changes have you seen in areas such as household activities, small businesses, and access to electricity?
With 70 units deployed across Kaduna State, the impact has shown up in concrete, everyday ways. Small business owners (tailors, shopkeepers) have told us they can now operate after dark and meet customer deadlines they used to miss, with fewer customer complaints. One shop owner told us she’s cut her fuel costs significantly and can now keep her shop open after sunset. A teacher told us his students can study after dark for the first time.
For households, it’s changed daily routines: appliances that used to mean hours of manual labour, often falling on women, like washing and food preparation, are now electric. The Nano is specifically rated for small loads like this, plus a TV and lighting, which matches exactly what we’re seeing used in the field.
Nigeria continues to face significant electricity access challenges, especially in rural and underserved communities. How many households or communities do you believe the Powerbox SE can potentially reach, and what will be required to achieve large scale deployment across Nigeria and other parts of Africa?
Our original feasibility work targeted 18 Local Government Areas across Kaduna, Kwara, and Abuja FCT, over 15.7 million people, more than 3.5 million low-income households, and over 2 million micro and small businesses. Nationally, 92 million Nigerians lack grid access at all.
Reaching that scale is now realistic because we have a full product range to match different needs and budgets; the Nano at N320,000 for a single household or small shop, the Pro from N720,000 for businesses needing to run a small refrigerator or multiple appliances, and the Vortex from N1,200,000 for larger commercial loads including air conditioning and washing machines. Having that range means we’re not a one size product trying to serve everyone; we can match affordability to need. Scaling further requires local manufacturing capacity to keep unit costs down, financing models like our planned kiosk rental scheme to widen access below even the Nano’s price point, and distribution partnerships with local government and community associations.
As the project moves from testing to wider production and distribution, what are the major challenges you are currently facing, and what kind of partnerships, funding, or infrastructure support will be needed to scale the technology?
The core challenge is capital for manufacturing scale up, moving from pilot scale production to volumes that meaningfully bring unit costs down across the whole Nano, Pro, Vortex range, while maintaining the battery and inverter quality standards we’ve built in. We also need distribution infrastructure to reach remote and underserved communities cost effectively, and continued component supply chains for the locally sourced parts that keep prices where they are.
To that end, we’ve applied to UNIDO’s A2D Facility for funding to scale this properly; that’s SPARC, which would fund a portable PowerBox rental network across Lagos, alongside co-financing from private investors. We’re also continuing to seek manufacturing partners. We’re already working with MHUB on production and building on the platform Innovate UK’s earlier funding gave us to get from prototype to where we are today.
You also led the development of So Cool; an AI and solar powered food storage solution aimed at reducing food waste among smallholder farmers. How does this project, alongside the Powerbox SE, reflect your broader vision of using emerging technologies to solve development challenges in Nigeria?
PowerBox SE and So Cool come from the same conviction: that AI, IoT, and data driven forecasting can be applied to Africa’s most pressing development challenges, not just its most profitable markets. So Cool applies solar power and AI to post harvest food loss among smallholder farmers, using intelligent forecasting to make scarce cold storage go further.
Both projects now sit within a broader vision we’re pursuing with UNIDO, and that vision is continental, not just local. PowerBox’s future is SPARC, a solar powered, on demand PowerBox rental network that will start in Lagos before expanding to underserved communities across Nigeria and, ultimately, other African countries facing the same energy access gap. So Cool’s future is SOLACE, AI orchestrated, solar powered cold chain storage hubs that will begin along the Lagos Ogun agricultural corridor, tackling post-harvest food loss at a much larger scale than a single farm or community, before we look to replicate that model wherever smallholder farmers are losing what they grow for lack of cooling.
Nigeria is our proving ground, not our ceiling. Energy poverty and food loss aren’t uniquely Nigerian problems. They’re shared across much of Sub-Saharan Africa. So, the pattern is deliberate: start with a tightly focused, deployable pilot in one corridor, prove it works, then scale it out. Together, PowerBox/SPARC and So Cool/SOLACE reflect my broader research vision, using contemporary technology to solve real, high impact development problems, built to grow from a working pilot into infrastructure that can operate well beyond where it started.
With renewable energy solutions gaining more attention globally, what role do you believe technologies like the Powerbox SE can play in Nigeria’s energy transition and efforts to improve electricity access for communities beyond the national grid?
Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Master Plan targets raising renewable electricity from 13% to 23%, and the honest reality is that grid extension alone won’t reach most underserved communities in any reasonable timeframe. Distributed solar solutions are the realistic pathway for large parts of rural and peri urban Nigeria. And the technology has matured well past “basic lighting”. Our Vortex model, for instance, can run air conditioning, refrigeration, and washing machines, which shows off grid solar can now support genuinely productive, business grade use, not just subsistence power. That’s what makes this a transition story, not just an access story: cutting reliance on polluting generators while enabling real economic activity.
The project is now seeking investment partners to scale production and distribution. What is your vision for commercialising the Powerbox SE, and how do you plan to balance affordability for low-income communities with the need for sustainable production?
My vision is to keep affordability and sustainability in step, not in tension, and having a tiered product range is central to that. The Nano at N320,000 keeps the entry point low for individual households and micro businesses; Pro and Vortex serve businesses with heavier loads at correspondingly higher price points, which helps cross subsidise the economics of the range as a whole.
Beyond direct sale, we’re developing an even smaller unit for solar powered public rental kiosks accessed via a mobile app, pick a unit up, use it at home, take it to work, return it in the evening, paying only for what you use. That model pushes affordability below even the Nano’s price point for those who can’t afford outright ownership. Sustainable production means building local manufacturing capacity so unit costs keep falling as we scale, rather than staying dependent on imported components, and that’s exactly where investment partners, including our application to UNIDO’s A2D Facility, come in.
