Nearly 700 million people worldwide – 85% in Africa – have no access to electricity. Sun King has today registered an Energy Compact with UN-Energy, committing to bring clean, reliable power to 200 million people by 2030, alongside clean cooking for 2 million. Announced on the sidelines of Climate Week NYC, the commitment puts 50 million solar kits and clean cooking solutions into African homes, schools, health centres and small businesses.

Sun King, the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company, announced the Compact at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Energy Compacts are voluntary, trackable commitments launched by UN-Energy, coordinated by UN DESA and supported by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). Through Energy Compacts, governments, companies and organisations register measurable, time-bound action toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7: ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Under the Compact, Sun King will deploy over 50 million new solar kits across Africa by 2030, more than $5.6 billion of solar equipment, extending clean energy access to 200 million people, adding 3.8 GW (3,800 MW) of new solar capacity, and delivering clean cooking to 2 million people. 

The commitment comes with four years to the 2030 SDG7 deadline. The latest Tracking SDG7 report finds 665 million people still without electricity and over two billion without clean cooking equipment, with the remaining gaps increasingly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. The expansion also supports Mission 300, the World Bank and African Development Bank initiative to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030. For scale: the 200 million people Sun King will serve is equivalent to two-thirds of the Mission 300 target and one-third of the SDG7 goal. World Bank research shows standalone solar, the technology Sun King delivers, is the least-cost route to the majority of new connections needed by 2030, at a fraction of the investment.

”When the SDGs were adopted, off-grid solar was in its infancy. Today it is the fastest-growing route to energy access in Africa and the quickest to deploy, with off-grid solar projected to deliver the largest share of new connections for people living beyond the grid. By 2030, Sun King expects to be delivering over a million solar kits a month. This Compact puts that commitment on the public record.” T. Patrick Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO, Sun King

Scaling distributed solar, house by house

Sun King works across 12 African countries, reaching customers house by house and business by business with solar kits designed and engineered in-house. It sells, installs and services those systems through a network of over 500 shops and over 43,000 trained agents who install solar in their own communities. The range runs from entry-level solar kits that provide lighting and phone charging through to multi-kilowatt systems capable of powering large homes, modern businesses, schools and public health centres.

Under Sun King’s pay-as-you-go model, customers buy their systems on finance repaid over 12 to 24 months in daily, weekly or monthly instalments, with entry-level kits costing as little as $0.19 a day via mobile money. The model lowers the upfront barrier to clean energy and widens access among underserved communities. Sun King has extended $1.7 billion in solar financing to customers across Africa to date.

The company currently provides light and power to 58 million people worldwide. Among Sun King’s first-time customers, 67% report having had no electricity access before, relying on candles, kerosene lamps or wood fires for basic lighting.

What the Sun King Energy Compact commits to

• Reach 200 million people with first-time or improved access to clean, affordable electricity
• Deploy 3.8 GW of new solar capacity 
• Power 50 million homes, schools, health centres and small businesses, taking Sun King’s cumulative total from 30 million to 80 million solar products delivered 
• Bring clean cooking to 2 million people 
• Create more than 45,000 new long-term jobs, taking Sun King’s workforce to approximately 90,000 people
• Deliver 1 million solar kits a month by the end of 2030, up from 330,000 today

How the commitment will be delivered

Sun King will meet the Compact commitments by deepening operations in the 12 African countries where it already works and moving into new markets with high energy access needs. It will keep investing in solar technology to bring more efficient systems to households and businesses, expand its partnerships with investors and develop its consumer financing platforms so that solar stays affordable while more capital is directed toward Africa’s green transition.