The acronym PUE (productive use of energy) or PURE (productive use of renewable energy) has recently become popular in the energy circles. You might have seen it popping up in energy articles and reports. What does it mean??
PUE refers to appliances that are designed to enhance productivity, reduce energy consumption and promote sustainable developments. These developments are either economic benefits or social impacts. PUE equipment can be industrial or commercial and can span various sectors e.g clean cooking, agriculture, laundry etc.
?Kijani Testing Limited, has been providing quality assurance testing services to manufacturers and distributors of PUEs since December 2019. During this time, we have built a wealth of experience in how to successfully break into new markets and stay relevant while employing customer centric and environmentally conscious practises.
?To date, we have tested and serviced over 17 types of PUEs including, pumps, electric pressure cookers, fridges, egg incubators, cold storage rooms, solar posho mills and helped in launching some of these appliances. Our goal is always focused on the customer/end user experience and how designers, manufacturers and sellers should focus on this aspect.
Sellers of PUE…. this is for you
For sellers struggling to introduce PUEs in new markets, below is our two cents on the biggest challenges,
- Initial costs: usually higher than the alternative.
- Changing the old mindset and behaviour takes time.
- Awareness, awareness awareness. As you would expect with new products, your customers are largely unaware of their existence.
- There is a lack of good quality aftersale support which often leads new customers frustrated.
So how do we address these issues?
- Promote awareness: This is meant to educate the people or communities on how ?PUEs work and manage expectations. In a study on the adoption of new technologies by Efficiency for Access and 60 Decibels it was observed that word of mouth was key in adoption especially in rural areas. Awareness campaigns are key to help inform the public on the misconceptions surrounding the PUE sector. These misconceptions make the customers have unrealistic expectations or underestimate the usefulness of the PUEs, hence the great need of these campaigns.?
- Policy support: We all know there is little progress if the government is working aganist you. In 2021 the Kenyan government made VAT exemptions for all solar and wind power items. This has led to an influx of Solar powered PUEs in the Kenyan market with GOGLA citing it as a big win. Policies such as these stimulate the market to exponential growths.
- Access to after-sale and technical support: This entails capacity for installation and technical support on failed PUEs. In a study we did in 2023, we discovered there is a great need in professional installation and repair to support the PUEs ecosystem thus ensuring that end users have access to affordable and reliable repair and maintenance services. This is from lack of comprehensive warranty terms. With this in place, the end users can purchase PUEs trusting that their product will serve them, and positively impact their income, for the advertised period and without fear of lack of support in the instance of product failure.??
- Access to finance: Due to the high initial cost of PUEs, it is needful to have access to finance for both the suppliers and end users alike. This may include recoverable grants, concessional loans, result based financing among others. As Kijani Testing, we recommend to the financial institutions to craft customized loans for products that have been tested and certified (such as the ones we have tested) with the government and developmental agencies providing the required guarantors to absorb any shock by defaulters.
