Startup company Bright has managed to secure $4 million in funding from investors according to online technology platform TechCrunch. The company's founder Jonah Greenberger believes that monthly electricity costs can be brought down in Mexico where energy can be expensive. The subsidies, albeit covering the poorest citizens, do not help everyone.
A subscription system
This is where Bright's subscription plan comes in. Greenberger's system works by installing solar panels on home owners's roofs for free. A bi-directional energy meter is installed in the home and connected to the network to measure energy generation and consumption. The energy produced by the panels is then subtracted from the energy used by the household and what is left gets accumulated for the next period. When the household does not use the solar power, it is then transferred through the grid to supply other households in the community.
A single installation will cost an investor $10,000 to $20,000 and households then start to pay Bright about $250 per month on average which Bright splits with the private investor. Consumers can cancel subscription anytime and the loss will then fall on the investor. Hence Greenberger believes in a careful selection process to lower risk. Bright sources its panels and system components from Mexican contractors and also continues to monitor performance after installation.
According to TechCrunch, Greenberger, with the new funding, plans to "hire and grow the team as well as improve the company's financial and solar software, allowing startup partners to sell, approve, install, and verify installations" adding, "Solar is the path forward. Specifically, its a solution that doesnt need to be centrally controlled and distributed (i.e. it can sit on roofs instead of in one large location in a desert), which means we can be independent from a totally government controlled solution."
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