BuffaloGrid
Solar power and connectivity for off-grid communities.
- Client
- BuffaloGrid
- Year
- 2024
- Our role
- Hardware design, field operations and payment experience
- Tags
- Hardware, Cleantech & impact
Challenge
Bring phone charging and internet access to communities with no reliable grid, in places where maintenance visits are rare and expensive.
What we did
We designed sealed, maintenance-free solar hubs, built the field operations, and integrated local mobile payments including M-Pesa, Paytm and SMS payments across 7 countries, including Uganda, India, Nigeria and Kenya.
Every hub, managed remotely
Every BuffaloGrid hub was monitored and updated remotely. We built a platform that let us push new content and software updates to hubs in the field, and track the performance of every hub and cluster across every country we operated in. It meant we could spot issues before they became failures, keep content fresh, and see exactly where the network was making the biggest difference.
1,000 unique users per hub
Our best-performing country, Bangladesh, where each device served 1,000 unique users.
Netflix, without the internet
Connectivity was only half the problem. We also built the BuffaloGrid app, an offline video service that worked like Netflix with no internet connection needed. People downloaded content straight from the hub to their phones and watched it whenever they liked.
We partnered with content creators across entertainment, sport, education and health to build a library people actually wanted. With the United Nations, we distributed content to help digitalise the local economy in Zambia.
The most cost-effective way to distribute digital content in the world
Outcome
Sealed, maintenance-free hubs with a failure rate under 2%, deployed across 7 countries and reaching around half a million people. Every hub could be monitored and updated remotely, and in Bangladesh, our best-performing country, each device served 1,000 unique users.
BuffaloGrid also launched Buffalito, a handheld power bank and lamp.
We are delighted with the BuffaloGrid service, it is a great way to distribute useful content across low income areas.
For the past weeks I've been able to download educative cartoons for my kids. Edge Edd has helped me bring some educations, entertainment and happiness into my family
500,000
People reached