Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

EmPowering electricity access in off-grid areas with a portable battery pack with Internet of Things connectivity

Project description

Portable battery pack for electricity-deprived African areas

Billions of people around the world have no access to electricity, but they do have mobile technology and access to the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). Denmark’s PP-Power has developed an advanced and portable battery pack with IoT connectivity, the Peoples Portable Power Pack (4P). It’s designed especially for electricity-deprived households found mainly in Africa. Based on a reusable lithium ion battery, the product offers software and data processing and is recharged by public solar facilities. The aim of the EU-funded EmPower project is to prepare the product for the off-grid market. The project will place PP-Power in a competitive position within the market and assist Europe in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Objective

Globally, about 1.2 billion households have no access to electrical energy. Despite the lacking access to electricity, many households placed in rural off-grid areas, in e.g. Africa, possess mobile technology, e.g. smartphones, and thus have access to the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). PP-Power has developed an innovative and portable battery pack with Internet of Things connectivity targeting these many householders living without public electricity supply, but with access to GSM communication - Peoples Portable Power Pack (4P).
Our solution is based on a state-of-the-art reusable lithium ion battery embedded with our proprietary electronics and cloud-based software to enable a Pay-As-You-Go payment model, as well as secure and remote battery monitoring and control, usage data collection, and software updates. The battery pack is charged from community owned solar PV installations, offering a unique combination of quality, affordability and scalability to meet the end-user’s gradually increasing electricity demand. These benefits are complemented by a unique flexibility in terms of business models and open connection of external equipment. Hence, our solution has the potential to give individuals in rural and small communities the opportunity of growth and education, as well as a healthier and more sustainable way of life than they have today.
We have already tested our solution with local end-users proving the high value of our business concept. With the current project, we aim to accelerate the maturation of our solution for broader and faster introduction in the off-grid electricity market with an initial focus on Kenya and Tanzania as our launch markets. The project will contribute to place PP-Power in a competitive position within the market and assist Europe in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

PP POWER APS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
LYSHOLT ALLE 6
7100 VEJLE
Denmark

See on map

SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Danmark Syddanmark Sydjylland
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
My booklet 0 0