COHO SOLAR

Coho Solar, a spin-out of Haddock Invention LLC, harnesses the existing and widespread use of disposable batteries for energy, but replaces them with clean products: their solar battery recharger for small shops (to displace existing disposable batteries), their all-in-one home charger, & their high quality, $5 light & mobile charger. Their market is in peri-urban and rural areas, particularly focused on low & middleincome families in Guatemala, the Philippines, Pakistan, and other developing... countries who have limited or no access to conventional grid electricity. These families get their lighting from a combination of candles, kerosene, and flashlights. They have at least one mobile phone per family. Collectively they buy over 10 billion single-use batteries per year. Other sources of energy such as solar energy and home systems are available in some of these areas, but the entry costs are prohibitive. For 15 cents, a family rents a solar recharged battery from the local grocery store. The individual customer instantly transforms her battery powered device into a solar powered device. Their solar-recharged batteries are 4x the performance (energy per dollar) of existing disposable batteries. In addition, their range of high-quality household appliances are a low-cost alternative to existing competitors. For example, their room light can retail at $5 to the customer with traditional commercial retail channel margins included.More