How to Get Silicon Valley to Care About Energy Poverty

Hugh Whalan of PEG Ghana talks about the rollercoaster of running startups in a new power frontier.

National Geographic's energy innovators aren't waiting for governments to tackle the fact that 1.3 billion people live without power. They're lighting the way themselves, and not always for the reasons you'd think. In our Lit Up series, they share lessons and inspiration that go far beyond solar panels and light bulbs. Their quotes have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Cell phones have become really important in Africa, but you can't even charge your cell phone if you don't have access to electricity. Our customer would walk miles to get their phones charged twice a week. They would pay to get their phone charged. They would pay for kerosene, batteries, candles. It's just so incredibly inconvenient to not have access to reliable clean power.

We get real-time data on every single one of our systems in the field, no matter how remote they are. That allows us to do really cool things. We know how charged your battery is. We know how much voltage is coming into the battery from your solar panel. That means we can diagnose and solve most

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