Portable off- grid power
Daniel Becerra is the CEO and Co-Founder of BuffaloGrid, a company bringing mobile power and digital services to the next billion users across frontier markets. Daniel is an Industrial Designer with a Masters in Innovation Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College. His work has reached four continents winning him multiple design and engineering awards.
Following a successful entrepreneurial venture creating an alternative air conditioner, Daniel realised that a tech startup could have a tremendous impact on the world. He set out to discover his next challenge and discovered a massive disconnect.
Daniel co-founded BuffaloGrid to bridge the digital divide with hardware and software that connects the unconnected.
From an early experiment using a bicycle to provide off-grid pedal power to a stand-alone, solar-powered solution, BuffaloGrid has grown to deliver the potential of entertainment, education and opportunity to billions of people around the globe.
Daniel Becerra
CEO and Co-Founder of Buffalo Grid
About Buffalo Grid
Half the population of the planet — four billion people — have never experienced the internet, even though 3.6 billion of them live in locations with available 3G or 4G. If coverage isn’t the problem, what’s the disconnect? The challenges of connecting the unconnected include affordability, consumer readiness and lack of relevant content.
In tech deserts, off-grid and grid-edge communities, poor power infrastructure presents another hurdle. For these rural residents, simply charging their phones is a daily struggle. The power problem and digital divide result in a lack of access to educational content, financial services, government services, eCommerce and entertainment.
These issues compound, increasing economic and social imbalances, broadening the gaps in digital skills, gender equality, human rights, financial inclusion and sustainable development. With the right connection, billions of people worldwide could have access to the content and skills they need to climb the economic and social ladder.
Buffalo Grid delivers an innovative connection solution. Their solar-powered StreamSpot+ gives users the power — and a place — to charge their mobile phones and access a world of vital information. BuffaloGrid powers the vision of a future where everyone is connected.
Applying Empathetic Engineering Principles
When BuffaloGrid was first conceived, the concept was for people to cycle from village to village, charging up a battery with every turn of the pedals and then charging people’s phones when they arrived at their destination. Systems thinking – Physiologically - quickly showed that they’d be exhausted trying to do this as it demands so much physical energy and so in 2014 the first Hub prototypes using solar power were developed.
There was also the risk of carrying cash as people paid for the charging. As a result, two key modifications were required. Firstly, charging the battery from the grid or other source prior to setting off; secondly, providing secure payment through SMS to remove cash from the service altogether. Another key element was thinking about this as a product service system, providing not only a service to the people who wanted to charge their phones or other devices, but to also provide the system as a service to independent vendors and operators who would provide the charging service to end-users. This means considering the business model and the design of the product service system concurrently. Finally, because telecommunications can be expensive, including a WiFi connection as part of the service, enables users to connect other devices including tablets, laptops and smart phones as part of the service and use this while their devices are being charged, thereby enhancing the value proposition. Understanding the systems context for use, the business model and design of the payments system, the involvement of local entrepreneurs as part of that system and the operational and environmental challenges shows Empathetic Engineering at its best.
Today when users connect to a StreamSpot+ Hub using the app, they can stream carefully curated, regionally relevant education, health, entertainment and sports content free of charge. StreamSpot+ features consistent offline content streaming, downloading and digital services to simulate a mobile internet experience with end-to-end industry standard content protection.
BuffaloGrid’s stand-alone, cloud-managed, mobile network-enabled device operates with no internet, fiber optics or power mains needed. When internet is available, StreamSpots report telemetry and can be remotely updated. StreamSpot+ is low-cost and highly scalable, and provides access to digital prosperity for residents in areas with a high population density, low infrastructure and fast-growing smartphone penetration.
