By Noko Mashilo
Frustrated by the unreliable power supply in South Africa, innovator Vincent Mosebe, 26, has developed a portable power station to help small businesses struggling with the high costs of energy.
“These portable power stations are named Tshepo, a Sotho word that means hope because we are providing hope to the SMMEs.
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“The small one is 300W, and the medium one is 3kW. It has been popular amongst nail technicians, barbershops and photographers among others,” said Mosebe, who is the owner and CEO of Mosebe Enterprise in Vrygrond in the Western Cape.
His innovation is not just about energy, it is about economic empowerment, business sustainability and resilience.
Mosebe, who has a background in civil engineering, said that for the large portable power station, his company had partnered with a local Wi-Fi/ISP company in Khayelitsha.
“Our mandate is to power some of their 20 towers so that they do not have interrupted power to their Wi-Fi and internet users,” said Mosebe.
He has been accredited with a SAPVIA PV green card that ensures compliance and safety of his power stations.
Mosebe said what made the station stand out from the existing solutions was that they were locally made, cost-effective, sustainable and reduced waste pollution.
“Our prices are between R3000 and R5000. We aim to reduce them as soon as we start mass production,” he said.
Mosebe said one issue he was dealing with was scepticism.
“There are still those who do not believe this kind of innovation can come from a township. Some still have a mindset that they can still go and get these portable power stations from China.”
Mosebe was adamant that teaming up with big corporations and the government could stop this kind of doubt, saying he needed support from the Western Cape government as the company was a start-up.
The highlight since starting his business was winning an award from the SAB Foundation last year.
“We won the audience choice award and came position three in the social
innovation award. This has shown that we are truly a solution, and we refused to be bystanders when it comes to high energy costs,” said Mosebe.
Julia Koeberg, 23, who owns Julie’s Nail Bar in Vrygrond, said she had reduced her monthly electricity bill.
“I used to lose clients during load-shedding because I did not have any power backup. After I bought the small portable power station from Mosebe Enterprise, I am now able to work without any interruption and I do house calls at ease with my own energy power.
“I do not lose any opportunity for my clients anymore. My power station is easy to carry and install,” said the proud nail technician.
Glorious Nongema, 35, is the owner of Seafire Technologies in Khayelitsha, where he provides internet and Wi-Fi to the underserved community.
He said his main problem was outages experienced by his clients who worked from home due to power failures.
“We are no longer affected by load-shedding. The portable power station came in handy since it boosted some of our 20 towers in our community. We have been working with Mosebe for a year now and we are happy with uninterrupted power,” said Nongema.
