Solar backup for a barbershop: Cutting hair through blackouts while cutting electricity costs.

Mshoromoni, Mombasa

If you ask Hamisi Juma what keeps him awake at night, he won’t mention customers or competition.

Instead, he’ll tell you it’s the electricity bills that haunt him. For six years, he’s been cutting hair in Mshomoroni at his shop, Wita Solar Barbershop. But for a long time, the "solar" part of the name was just a dream. Those monthly bills were gnawing away at his profits, and the frequent blackouts made things even worse. Two or three times a week, the power would go out, leaving him in the dark with no clippers. Customers would simply head to the next barber.

Then he joined our training program, where he learned about load calculation and battery sizing. He discovered that his clippers use 150 watts, his shaving machine consumes 200 watts, and his lights require 60 watts. He figured out how many batteries he’d need to keep everything running for four hours during a blackout. He also learned to separate his daily earnings from his operating costs, a crucial distinction he had never considered before.

After completing the training, he applied for a Green Starter Loan of KES 100,000 at an 8 percent interest rate. With that, he purchased a solar panel, a deep cycle battery, and certified wiring. The installation took just two days.

Now, his barbershop runs on solar power for the clippers, shaving machine, and a few lights. The battery ensures he can keep working during blackouts that used to shut him down for hours. He still relies on grid power for the television and fan, but his monthly electricity bill has been slashed by more than half. When the grid goes down, he continues to cut hair. He tracks his daily earnings by reconciling his M-PESA every evening. While his numbers are looking good, he plans to wait a full year before calculating exactly how much he’s gained.

Loan: Green Starter Loan – KES 100,000 at 8% over 10 months
Green tech: Solar control panel + deep cycle battery storage
Circular economy: Hair waste composting through Bidii Coastal Organics