How Kenyan Siblings beat Elon Mask to Market with Solar Tiles

While most people might think solar tiles have been pioneered by Elon Musk, he has some stiff competition on his home continent where a Kenyan brother-and-sister team were producing their product before him.

Charity Wanjiku is the chief operations officer of Strauss Energy, a Kenyan company she co-founded with her brother Tony Nyagah that has been making their solar tiles since 2013. The idea was "birthed" in the late 1990s after Kenya went through 16-hour power rationing blackouts. Musk announced his solar tiles in October 2016.

"We tried it first as a [Masters] school project and it worked like a charm," she told me. "We asked ourselves how we could meet the need to supply basic home utilities like electricity and still get income."

"We are both techies. He’s an engineer and I’m an architect. The question begged itself: how do we amass our expertise towards introducing a speeding catalyst to the power/ electricity problem we have in the country?"

They asked themselves how they could meet the need to supply basic home utilities like electricity and still get income. “What would happen if we integrated solar cells into a roofing tile? Would it be a noble idea seeing as everyone needs a roof over their heads?" Wanjiku (38) and Nyagah (41) mused.

Wanjiku's vision is to "annihilate extreme energy poverty by converting freely available clean energy into passive income" and her mission is to integrate energy-generating technology into basic building materials like tiles which will allow the "general citizenry participates and get a good return".

There are 620-million people in Africa without a connection to the electricity grid, says Amar Inamdar, whose Nairobi-based KawiSafi Ventures runs a $100-million fund to invest in solar energy. It will cost $1,500 to connect each household to the grid. It takes about nine years, "which is like a lifetime." When the connections do arrive, they are unreliable and doesn't have enough robustness.

"There is a revolution happening in the villages or towns around us," Inamdar told me. "It is an echo of the cellphone revolution and is also wireless. Now it is solar. There's something remarkable happening."

Strauss Energy aims to be part of that revolution, says Wanjiku. "We aim to solve the problem of lack of electricity, power blackouts and fluctuating bills in addition to contributing to 15,000MW of power required by 2030 in Kenya."

Kenya's grid electricity capacity is currently at 2,400MW. "The distribution still leans more towards urban and suburban areas. Rural and arid (marginalized) areas grid electricity penetration is not as widespread and this creates a wonderful opportunity for us as a company. We have thence embarked on setting up mini-grids in Turkana as a start. This gives the opportunity to all Kenyans to have access to power and an improved living standard."

When they first started their product, they were met with skepticism, but quickly overcame it. "Like every new product, especially in the construction industry, we were met with a number of side-eyes that doubted the efficiency and cost saving of our integrated solution, and an equal measure of enthusiasm from those who were interested in sustainable construction and energy. The positive endorsement of our solution, especially from government officials and interested investors, gave us affirmation that we were doing something right. So we forged on and kept the nay-sayers at bay."

The Strauss Stima tiles range from $20 to $150 depending on size and capacity, which range from 8W to 150W. "We’ve sold short of $100,000 in two years of market entry. Our projection is to install a minimum 25,000 units per year targeting real estate developments, schools and factories."

The company has diversified into mini-grids, solar water heating systems and innovating in compressed air energy storage solutions. Since the law on mandatory solar water heating installation for certain homes was introduced in Kenya a year ago, it has given their business added impetus. "Needless to say, we are involved in lobbying the government for net-metering to be a reality in Kenya."

She "absolutely" believes their products can go global. "Everyone needs a roof over their heads. If for the same price as conventional roofing, customers get our premium roofing tiles, reduction of anticipated bills by 25%, more reliable power, passive income in perpetuity and an aesthetic look on the roof without the pains of fixing solar panels. We have a winner, a global winner!"

Asked if the Tesla roof tiles validate her product, she told me: "In my opinion, the reverse is true. Strauss Stima tile was in existence three years before Tesla’s was unveiled. That an innovation giant such as Tesla has a similar product to Strauss Energy elates us as an African innovative company. Ours is to look for synergies with the world-renowned giant especially in Africa where the sun shines on us at least 10 months a year."

Wanjiku was included in former President Barack Obama's Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University in 2016, as part of the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Network, with support from the US Department of State. "It was the second time I was pitching Strauss Stima Tile to a global audience and won the 'People’s Choice' Award. It was exciting and frightening in equal measure. Now this was true validation that we were doing something right.

Meeting global innovation leaders and receiving feedback from them on how to grow our business to a global market was the most priceless take-away from the entire Silicon Valley experience."