Arc Projects: Solar-Powered Devices
Renewable Energy Microfinance and Microenterprise Program (REMMP)
Arc is testing, piloting and expanding a number of business models that are focused on financing for sustainable energy including microfinance, remittances, asset finance, crowd-funding and pay as you go mechanisms. The end goal of REMMP is to increase access to finance for end users of clean energy services so as to improve livelihoods and quality of life among these target recipients.
For details on the REMMP project, click here.
Rural Clean Energy Project: Latin America
In partnership with the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), Arc implemented a project funded by the World Bank/IFC to increase access to clean rural electrification in Latin America. Arc analyzed the business models of three Latin American organizations active in the energy sector (Emprenda in Peru and Argentina, Ecami in Nicaragua, and IDEAAS in Brazil) with the goal of improving the existing business models through introducing additional products and services, promoting alliances with financial institutions, and suggesting new financing mechanisms such as carbon finance, thereby facilitating expansion and replication.
Arc Knowledge Products: Solar-Powered Devices
Arc Finance Fact Sheet
Arc Finance’s mission is to promote and expand access to financing for energy, water and other basic needs to build the income and assets of poor people around the world. Read our Fact Sheet (PDF).►
Arc Finance Impact Fact Sheet
Arc Finance is committed to measuring the impact of all its programs in terms of increased availability of consumer financing for clean energy products and services. Arc also measures and reports on other indicators we view as important for our development agenda. Read our Impact Fact Sheet (PDF). ►
Arc Finance REMMP Fact Sheet
USAID’s Renewable Energy Microfinance and Microenterprise Program (REMMP) is designed to improve access to modern energy services in underserved communities, while at the same time helping USAID partners reduce carbon emissions. A key goal of REMMP is to increase the availability of consumer financing for clean energy services and products to enable low-income populations to gain access to technologies that can improve their livelihoods and quality of life while mitigating climate change. Read our Fact Sheet (PDF). ►
REMMP Energy Diaries Fact Sheet
The Energy Diaries is a new research methodology that studies energy uses and spending at the household level. The objective is to improve understanding of the daily realities of the energy poor, understand how energy poverty may impact women and men differently, illustrate what these gendered needs suggest about optimal energy products and services for this market, and identify relevant policy implications for stakeholders to better meet the needs of poor households. Read our Energy Diaries Fact Sheet (PDF).►
Bandhan’s Energy Lending Initiative
Bandhan Konnagar is part of the Bandhan Group, which provides microfinance services to 7.6 million borrowers — almost all women — through 2,022 branches across 24 Indian states. In 2013, Bandhan created an energy program to provide a microfinance facility for high-quality solar devices. Bandhan aims to harness the enormous scale of its existing microfinance business to scale its energy lending activities, and transform millions of lives by making modern energy services accessible to India’s rural poor. Read our Case Study (PDF). ►
Financing Sustainable Energy Through Remittance Flows in Haiti and the Dominican Republic
2009 Arc Finance / BASE Arc Finance, BASE, and the Mexican market research firm Mercaei collaborated on a research project to assess the feasibility of using remittances to finance renewable energy products. Through market research with Haitian and Dominican immigrants in the New York area, the project team identified a number of promising business models for financing and distributing sustainable energy products, developed a strong network of distribution partners, and built a comprehensive understanding of the energy sector in Haiti. This report, commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank, summarizes the findings. Read our report (PDF). ►
In-House Asset Finance for Small-Scale Renewable Energy
In-house asset finance provides customers with a pay plan that allows them to purchase a product on an installment basis. The benefits of providing in-house credit are compelling, but it is a complex and challenging undertaking. In this Briefing Note, read a synopsis of how four energy companies – SolarNow, Simpa Networks, Grameen Shakti and M-Kopa – have successfully developed an in-house asset finance capacity. Read our Briefing Note (PDF). ►
The Buksh Foundation’s Solar Loan Initiative — Sparking a “Clean Energy Movement” in Pakistan
The Buksh Foundation, a Pakistani MFI, takes a unique approach to addressing a critical need that is faced by virtually all of its business clients: lack of access to reliable and affordable electricity. In 2010, the organization began to explore clean energy finance as a solution to this escalating challenge. Today, Buksh Foundation’s solar loan program is taking direct aim at the problem, and has emerged as the fastest growing area of its portfolio. Read our Case Study (PDF). ►
Stima Systems’ Group Microleasing Model — Promoting Payment and Reducing Risk at the Group Level
Kenya-based energy company Stima Systems has developed a distinct approach to service delivery and end-user affordability: the group microlease. Group microleasing leverages the prevalence, structure and internal dynamics of community-based savings groups to mitigate a number of critical risks and barriers that often limit access to clean energy for poor people around the world. Read our Case Study (PDF). ►