Amazon Web Services Case Studies Building an IoT Solution Using Eseye and AWS to Provide Customers in East Africa with Secure Access to Solar Energy

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	Building an IoT Solution Using Eseye and AWS to Provide Customers in East Africa with Secure Access to Solar Energy Amazon Web Services

Building an IoT Solution Using Eseye and AWS to Provide Customers in East Africa with Secure Access to Solar Energy

Amazon Web Services

Technology Category	Networks & Connectivity - Cellular Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries	Renewable Energy Utilities
Applicable Functions	Maintenance Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Remote Asset Management Predictive Maintenance Energy Management System
Services	System Integration Data Science Services
Challenge	SolarNow, a for-profit social business, provides solar energy products and financing solutions in East Africa. The company faced challenges in identifying common device pain points for customers and optimizing device longevity. As SolarNow’s customer base grew, the company began identifying areas for business growth and improvement. They noted pain points for customers, such as a short battery lifespan or inefficient solar panel usage, that they felt they could proactively address and prevent these issues using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to build a connected device and monitoring solution. SolarNow needed to be able to enhance access to and use of device data to remotely monitor system performance and alert customers of inefficient device usage. Read More
About Customer	SolarNow is a for-profit social business with Dutch origins that is passionate about transforming lives by providing quality solar energy products and financing solutions in East Africa. Beginning its operations in Uganda in 2011, the company has provided solar energy at affordable prices to over 35,000 customers. SolarNow addresses the unmet need for sustainable, quality solar energy in the region through the provision of solar-powered equipment, appliances, and services to remote or off-grid homes, farms, schools, health centers, and businesses. To make a deployment achievable, the company offers affordable and flexible credit with every solution, a key feature in widening access to solar energy in the East African market. Read More
Solution	SolarNow chose to work with Eseye, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT Competency Partner and a leading global machine to machine (M2M) cellular connectivity and device provider in the IoT space. Eseye’s proven customer success in the energy industry and within developing communities appealed to the SolarNow team. Eseye connects SolarNow’s devices with reliable global cellular network data through the Eseye AnyNet Secure SIM solution. The SIM’s enhanced features, such as secure integration with the AWS IoT cloud, Bespoke Firewalls, and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) locking enable SolarNow to remotely and securely activate, provision, authenticate, and certify deployed devices over-the-air. To make it simple for SolarNow to use the AnyNet Secure solution, Eseye has integrated its services with the AWS IoT Core, which enables lifecycle management, certificate delivery, analytics, and anomaly detection at the click of a button. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - Cellular

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Renewable Energy

Utilities

Applicable Functions

Maintenance

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management

Predictive Maintenance

Energy Management System

Services

System Integration

Data Science Services

Challenge

SolarNow, a for-profit social business, provides solar energy products and financing solutions in East Africa. The company faced challenges in identifying common device pain points for customers and optimizing device longevity. As SolarNow’s customer base grew, the company began identifying areas for business growth and improvement. They noted pain points for customers, such as a short battery lifespan or inefficient solar panel usage, that they felt they could proactively address and prevent these issues using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to build a connected device and monitoring solution. SolarNow needed to be able to enhance access to and use of device data to remotely monitor system performance and alert customers of inefficient device usage.

About Customer

SolarNow is a for-profit social business with Dutch origins that is passionate about transforming lives by providing quality solar energy products and financing solutions in East Africa. Beginning its operations in Uganda in 2011, the company has provided solar energy at affordable prices to over 35,000 customers. SolarNow addresses the unmet need for sustainable, quality solar energy in the region through the provision of solar-powered equipment, appliances, and services to remote or off-grid homes, farms, schools, health centers, and businesses. To make a deployment achievable, the company offers affordable and flexible credit with every solution, a key feature in widening access to solar energy in the East African market.

Solution

SolarNow chose to work with Eseye, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT Competency Partner and a leading global machine to machine (M2M) cellular connectivity and device provider in the IoT space. Eseye’s proven customer success in the energy industry and within developing communities appealed to the SolarNow team. Eseye connects SolarNow’s devices with reliable global cellular network data through the Eseye AnyNet Secure SIM solution. The SIM’s enhanced features, such as secure integration with the AWS IoT cloud, Bespoke Firewalls, and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) locking enable SolarNow to remotely and securely activate, provision, authenticate, and certify deployed devices over-the-air. To make it simple for SolarNow to use the AnyNet Secure solution, Eseye has integrated its services with the AWS IoT Core, which enables lifecycle management, certificate delivery, analytics, and anomaly detection at the click of a button.

Impact #1	SolarNow is gaining vital insight into how its customers are using its systems and into device performance.
Impact #2	SolarNow is able to remotely monitor how customers are using their systems.
Impact #3	SolarNow is beginning to explore how it can use additional AWS services to collect more insight into customer usage patterns and proactively maintain devices.

Impact #1

SolarNow is gaining vital insight into how its customers are using its systems and into device performance.

Impact #2

SolarNow is able to remotely monitor how customers are using their systems.

Impact #3

SolarNow is beginning to explore how it can use additional AWS services to collect more insight into customer usage patterns and proactively maintain devices.

Benefit #1	SolarNow has provided solar energy at affordable prices to over 35,000 customers.
Benefit #2	Through its initial pilot of 150 units in Uganda, SolarNow is gaining vital insight into how its customers are using its systems and into device performance.

Benefit #1

SolarNow has provided solar energy at affordable prices to over 35,000 customers.

Benefit #2

Through its initial pilot of 150 units in Uganda, SolarNow is gaining vital insight into how its customers are using its systems and into device performance.

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Overview

Building an IoT Solution Using Eseye and AWS to Provide Customers in East Africa with Secure Access to Solar Energy

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit