Being part of an ever-connected society, many people in the Global North can barely fathom that still more than 1.5 billion people live off the grid. Instead of simply plugging in, they use kerosene lanterns that only illuminate spots in their home, walk miles to charge their mobile phones, or run a diesel generator to power their business.

With just a simple technology ideas as their starting point, the Mobisol team started to engage in field research without having a final product in mind. Design thinking experience guided them: This meant that researching user needs first would likely spark an idea that could hit a sweet spot in the market.

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