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Canadian Solar Invests in German Off-Grid Solar Pioneer SolarWorX as Part of a Strategic Partnership
- Canadian Solar, EIT InnoEnergy and DEG invest a seven-digit sum into SolarWorX - Partnership looks to address the global challenge of 1.2 billion people
About this update from Canadian Solar Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- Canadian Solar, EIT InnoEnergy and DEG invest a seven-digit sum into SolarWorX\n - Partnership looks to address the global challenge of 1.2 billion people currently living without reliable access to electricity\n\n\nGUELPH, ON, March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the \"Company\", or \"Canadian Solar\") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and SolarWorX, a Berlin based off-grid solar pioneer, announced today that they entered into a strategic partnership in which Canadian Solar will invest in SolarWorX as part of the start-up's series A investment round. Canadian Solar, as the lead investor, is joined by co-investors EIT InnoEnergy, one of the leading European investors in sustainable energy innovations, and DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, the German development finance institution. DEG will use funds from the develoPPP.de program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The seven-digit funding will help SolarWorX expand its product portfolio and sales activities in its overall push to electrify some of the 1.2 billion people that are still living without a stable grid connection. \nSolarWorX offers a modular off-grid solar solution called Solego to harness and distribute energy from solar panels. The modular systems with 80Wh or 160Wh battery capacity can be stacked on top of each other and provide flexibility to power individual households, small businesses and entire communities. The systems also offer voice support in local languages such as English, French, Swahili, Wolof and Fula, and are compatible with all major pay-as-you-go platforms. Significant upside potential lies in SolarWorX's upcoming smart DC grid solution called MESH, a hardware-agnostic system that allows users of Solego and other 12V solar battery systems to easily share PV powered electricity between 2 to 100 households and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). MESH will be deployed in the field at a pre-commercial stage by the second quarter of 2021. \nFelix Boldt, CEO and founder of SolarWorX, commented: \"In sub-Saharan Africa alone, around 600 million people are detached from the opportunities that come with reliable access to power. Changing that requires more than just a well-engineered technical solar solution. In Africa, everything is defined by price. Our solution cuts out the need for tech...