Impact Makers: Dr. Sebastian Groh

Driving the transition to cleaner, greener transport solutions in Bangladesh By Climate Champions | November 5, 2024

NAME

Dr. Sebastian Groh

TITLE

CEO & Founder, SOLshare

LOCATION

Dhaka, Bangladesh

ABOUT

Sebastian Groh is the driving force behind SOLshare, a green utility company reshaping how energy powers both lives and livelihoods in Bangladesh. At the heart of SOLshare’s mission is a network of smart, distributed solar and storage solutions that boost renewable energy on the grid and put income into the hands of the country’s five million electric rickshaw drivers.

Under Sebastian’s leadership, SOLshare is building Bangladesh’s first Virtual Power Plant (VPP) – the Rickshaw VPP – with the potential to stabilize up to 30% of peak grid load. This is a critical step in Bangladesh’s push toward net zero emissions. Transforming Dhaka’s massive fleet of electric rickshaws from polluting lead-acid to cleaner, efficient lithium-ion batteries, SOLshare is also rolling out rooftop solar across charging stations and commercial sites nationwide. Their Pay-As-You-Go battery-leasing model provides rickshaw drivers with affordable access to cleaner, more efficient energy. By introducing Bangladesh’s first solar-powered rickshaw charging station with virtual power plant capabilities, Sebastian and SOLshare are laying the groundwork for scalable, renewable-powered transport in one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

MOTIVATIONS

“During my PhD, I discovered that Bangladesh had deployed nearly 3 million solar home systems—double the number in Germany at the time. This sparked the idea of connecting these systems into a sharing platform to allow communities to trade excess electricity and earn income from their surplus, achieving up to 30% energy efficiency across millions of systems. After pitching the model in Silicon Valley, judges encouraged me to get on-the-ground experience, so I traveled to Bangladesh in 2014, where SOLshare was born. We launched with peer-to-peer solar microgrids and scaled this model to 120 SOLgrids nationwide, including interconnected microgrids in Rohingya refugee camps, increasing energy exchange and reliability.

Recognizing the potential of Bangladesh’s five-million-strong electric rickshaw fleet, we then saw a chance to address emissions and driver income. By introducing solar-integrated EV charging stations and our smart Pay-As-You-Go battery model, SOLshare has clocked over 2 million kilometers on the road and saved approximately one ton of CO₂ per vehicle per year, all while improving driver earnings and supporting grid stability. Today, as we lay the groundwork for Asia’s largest green utility, it’s clear we need more climate-tech startups to scale these efforts. That’s why I now also teach climate entrepreneurship at BRAC University, helping to inspire a new generation eager to make an impact.”

IMPACTS

Before

The electric three-wheeler sector in Bangladesh faces numerous challenges:

• Rickshaws are powered by outdated, inefficient, and highly polluting lead-acid batteries, contributing to significant environmental degradation through crude recycling methods.
• The high cost of energy consumption, maintenance costs and long charging hours (10-12), which accounts for 80% of operational expenses, limiting the earnings of rickshaw drivers.
• The drivers are kept in a vicious cycle of debt by repeatedly paying exorbitantly high interest rates on lead-acid battery loans which break down once almost immediately after the loan is repaid.
• Despite Bangladesh’s abundant solar energy resources, there was no integrated model to leverage this clean energy for transportation purposes.
• Lead-acid batteries have a shorter lifespan (9-12 months), require frequent replacements, and contributed to hazardous waste disposal issues, incl.high levels of lead poisoning.

After

SOLshare’s solution offers access to better technology and financing mechanisms for electric three-wheeler drivers allowing them to increase their income:

• Through the introduction of the PAYG LI-battery leasing models, SOLshare has successfully transitioned 200 rickshaws from lead-acid to smart lithium-ion batteries. These batteries last longer, charge faster, and reduce the environmental impact of transportation.
• Rickshaw drivers have reported up to a 25% increase in their earnings, attributed to lower energy cost and zero maintenance from longer-lasting batteries.
• Garage owners have experienced a 40% reduction in energy costs, allowing them to run their businesses more sustainably.
• SOLshare has installed Bangladesh’s first solar photo-voltaic-powered rickshaw charging station, which provides greener and cheaper charging solutions for rickshaws.
• With over five million electric three-wheelers across Bangladesh, SOLshare’s model has the potential to significantly reduce the city’s reliance on polluting energy sources. The company is now working with sector stakeholders including the Bangladesh government, financial institutions (MFIs and commercial banks), battery manufacturers and charging garages to scale up these initiatives.
• The current fleet of vehicles across Bangladesh has the potential to buffer 30% of the country’s peak grid load (5 million EVs feeding 1 kW per vehicle = 5 GW) through virtual power plants. The vehicles can feed back when sitting idle, coming back to the garage in the evening when demand is highest, and instead charge during super off peak hours (after midnight).

CHALLENGES

While SOLshare’s innovations have demonstrated a clear pathway for transitioning Bangladesh’s electric rickshaw fleet to cleaner energy, several challenges remain:

• Initially, SOLshare lacked a clear roadmap for how to integrate its SOLmobility offering into its existing energy solutions and bring it to market effectively.
• Securing reliable suppliers for lithium-ion batteries and other components was initially a challenge, but with a well-defined market position, SOLshare was able to attract the necessary partners to scale up its clean energy solutions.
• While 200 rickshaws have already been converted, scaling the model to millions of vehicles remains a key focus, requiring continued collaboration with government and private sector partners.

GOALS

“Our work is essentially paving the path to sustainability through the deployment of solar and storage solutions which is setting up the infrastructure needed for virtual power plants that have the capacity for grid buffering and grid stabilization through the integration of more renewables to the grid. The future of renewable technologies lies in the integration of smart storage and this key in our journey to net-zero, reducing our impact on the planet and winning the fight against climate change. We strongly believe that our technology has global applications/potential for replication and is necessary for the global energy transformation. Right now, SOLshare is set to become Asia’s largest green utility, fully designed from the bottom-up.”

SEBASTIAN’S ADVICE

“Understand the specific energy needs, economic conditions, and cultural factors of the communities you’re serving. Innovations should be built with communities, not for them, fostering shared ownership and relevance.

Emerging markets come with unique challenges – such as regulatory barriers, unstable funding environments, and technical hurdles. Entrepreneurs need to be ready to adapt their business models, and resilient against setbacks. Always plan for unpredictable regulatory shifts or technological scalability and continuously iterating to overcome these.

Scaling isn’t possible in isolation, especially in emerging markets where ecosystems are complex. Building strategic local partnerships with governments, NGOs, businesses, and corporations are necessary to access resources, expand reach, and build trust with communities.

Develop a clear business case for your solution, measuring both environmental and social impact. Building transparent impact metrics that can attract investors and demonstrate the tangible benefits of your solution to stakeholders.

Driving change at scale in emerging markets requires a supportive policy environment. Innovators should use their platform to advocate for fair, climate-aligned policies and financial accountability from global stakeholders. Highlighting these priorities helps amplify the voices of those most affected by climate change.

Necessity is the mother of invention. If the people with the chance to invent don’t face the necessities the rest of us face, they won’t build what we need.

Solving the climate crisis requires tens of thousands of solutions. These solutions must transform the way we live and work in every industry and community. If we pick a few that make us feel good to talk about, and focus on them, we’ll only scratch the surface.

But if we flip the equation, if we commit today to enable an army of innovators we could change course. But we need to do so now.

We face a choice today. Either invest in those who don’t understand the problem, but have the equipment, or equip those close enough to the problem to solve it. Now we need to choose.

Startups – in climate – in the developing world. It’s that simple.”

CONTACT

Website

Images: SOLShare

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