African Power Solution
Sustainable Energy Freedom
Peco Power is on a mission to fight energy inequality and improve African lives.
Smart Power Bricks
Peco Power provides a rugged, affordable, simple to use, off-grid electrification solution for African communities without access to electricity as well as a secondary backup power supply for households who need it during load shedding. These units can be charged from the grid or via a solar panel and can power both 12V DC appliances as well as 220V AC appliances when connected to an inverter.
Peco power grids offers accessible energy to all
PowerBrick
Peco’s PowerBrick has several unique features.
These include:
A built-in LiFePO4 battery that is guaranteed to provide a minimum of 2000 cycles. With daily use, this translates into 6 or 7 years of life before it needs replacing Li cells, after which the battery will be good for another 7 years. (The industry standard is 500 cycles).
Peco Power’s built-in patented mini-grid technology allows the systems to be expanded as requirements change.
a. The Mini-grid is scalable from 70w to 500W of continuous power (2500W of peak power) and
b. The battery storage is expandable from 150wh to 2500wh
By simply plugging together additional PowerBricks. (Industry standard: not expandable)
PowerBrick is designed for ease of use and affordability in low-cost homes. Even as the system is expanded, no technical or electrical expertise is needed for installation or maintenance (Industry standard: either plug-and-play or expandable but not both).
The built-in microgrid is stacked with safety features. System faults or overload failures immediately puts the PowerBrick into a temporary sleep mode. Once the faulty appliance is removed the PowerBrick will automatically “self-heal” and restart within 60 seconds.
The PowerBrick was designed and built with African conditions in mind. It has a mild steel powder-coated enclosure and uses fittings that were approved for use in the automotive industry. (Industry standard: plastic enclosures).
PowerBrick can be charged with a solar panel or directly from the grid.
About Peco Power
Peco Power Is a collaboration between the University of the Witwatersrand, the original IP developers and Umbono Natural Resources (an impact investment company) to develop and manufacture its patented mini-grid intellectual property.
The original Peco IP was born from a humanitarian challenge in 2014 when WITS University Professor Cronje, gripped by the plight of the 600 million people in Africa living without access to electricity, sought a solution. Available systems were expensive, were not expandable, and required specialized technical skills to be installed and maintained. From this Peco’s new PowerBrick has developed. Inside every single PowerBrick is a Mini-grid. When two PowerBricks are plugged together, the system expands to form a larger Mini-grid. This allows households to build onto their systems as their needs grow and their budget allows.
Markets
Off - Grid Electrification
Whilst many parts of Africa have some form of grid connectivity there are still a number of places that have no electrification infrastructure, and may possibly never have. Peco’s PowerBrick can run all your appliances using free solar energy during the day and seamlessly switch to its inbuilt Lithium battery at night. As off-grid solutions are likely to drawdown their batteries daily – we have designed them to give a minimum of 2000 plus cycles. This means that they will function for between 7 to 10 years before requiring a simple and inexpensive battery replacement.
Backup Power Supply
Poor reliability of electrical power supply is a reality in many parts of the world and Africa is no exception. The PowerBrick will charge itself from the grid and allow you to keep your “must have” and “need to have” appliances running during power interruptions. If these interruptions are unpredictable or longer in nature, you can opt to charge it up with a solar panel, that can be connected in paralle with the grid charger, ensuring that it remains fully charged and ready at all times.
Customised Power Solutions
A patented “Peco Inside” technology licenced to manufacturers of power solutions. This is “Next Gen Energy” and will soon render less flexible solutions obsolete. Peco partners with and supports System Integrators who are looking to access Peco’s patented plug & play expandable technology into their own product range.
Collaborative Partnerships
Whether its online streaming, broadband data service or mobile telecommunications – unreliable power availability will negatively affect the customers’ ability to access the subscription offering. Bundling Peco Power solutions into the monthly contract would be an effective way to ensure uptime and offer an additional value added offering (power for other devices) to existing subscribers.
Peco Champion Franchise
The ongoing challenge is often that communities that need a Peco solution most desperately, are not in a position to purchase it outright. Peco’s proprietary “Rent-to-Own” technology automatically locks the PowerBrick at predetermined intervals and allows users to unlock them with a code that is released to them on payment of the next instalment. A R350,000 investment is enough to set up a Peco Champion with their very own Peco franchise. The fee would include 100 “Rent to Own” Peco systems and a start-up toolkit with all equipment needed to set up business and start trading. By signing up rental customers, Peco Champions could have an ongoing and consistent income to support their families. In addition, every Peco Champion has direct access to technical training as well ongoing personal coaching and business mentoring. With over 100 million households in Africa without direct access to electricity – this could create 1 million job opportunities for Peco Champions across Africa.
Your Off-Grid Partner
Loadshedding
Our launch offering, Peco Lite 50 and Peco Lite 80 may not meet the immediate electrification requirements of those residential households needing to power 220V AC appliances. However, they can provide some relief with lighting and device charging during power outages, with the potential to grow into much more.
Furthermore, the expandable nature of the Peco Grid means that you can start small and add more blocks later on, to increase the capacity and capability of the Grid during loadshedding.
Heating & Cooking
Our technology was developed to provide your home with essential electrification –lighting, device charging, entertainment, and refrigeration.
Peco Power technology is not suitable for high-power appliances such as heaters, microwaves, kettles and geysers. If you are looking for a cost-effective solution for heating and cooking, we recommend portable gas burners.
Bespoke solutions & distribution
At Peco Power, we undertake our own research and development on new technologies and product offerings. All our products are proudly South African and locally manufactured.
This means that Peco Power can white-label and/or customize the specifications of any of our products according to your needs. If you are looking for a bespoke product to add to your offering, Peco Power can assist with R&D and manufacturing.
Peco Power Team
Dorian Wrigley
Muhammed Aswat
Professor Willie Cronje
The Peco Team operating from Wits University Tau Motau, Mosa Kgari, Gilly Tema, Learn Chiloane, Prof. Willie Cronje, Victor Bicamumpaka, Luyanda Januarie, Thorn Nkabinde, Dorian Wrigley
Contact us to get your Peco Grid today!
Get In Touch
- Customer Care: 071 884 0942
- Technical Support: 071 884 2369
- Email: info@pecopower.co.za
- Location: 31 West St, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, 2198
- Mon - Fri: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm