University Of Connecticut Students' Business Help Provide Solar Energy Equipment To Developing Countries

Two University of Connecticut students have started a business in providing solar energy equipment to developing countries, such as Haiti, Nepal, and some communities in Africa.

Innovative-Diffusion LLC was launched 10 months ago by two UConn students. Benjamin Williams, who is one of the co-founders and CEO of Innovative-Diffusion, have stated that the company was faced with vast challenges, the Hartford Courant reported.

David Oyanadel, chief technology officer and co-founder of the company, said that the difficulties lie with finding distributors for their products, along with the level of corruption within the targeted countries.

The partners have revealed that the corruption is operating in a large scale, and cites an example regarding port regulations. The company was faced with challenge that almost barred them from even trading to the affected countries.

The claim was that if a company failed to pay under the table, the goods would stay in port.

Innovative-Diffusion is based in Willimantic. During its 10-month operation, it is reported that the company has generated $40,000 in revenue, albeit not having raised private capital. The company has two products in production as of writing, which are the "Medicine Unit," and the "Permanent Solar Unit," as displayed on its website.

The products utilizes solar energy to provide basic commodities to developing countries. The "Medicine Unit" is a refrigerated storage unit designed for medicines, as proper storage has prevented the affected countries to distribute medical supplies to those in need.

Meanwhile the "Permanent Solar Unit" provides an energy supply to those communities that are lacking a power grid, which allows for the residents to have a reliable source of light, and a source to power devices.

Innovative-Diffusion LLC has since partnered with Africaphilantopies, Inc., as well as Embrace Relief Foundation, Inc., as stated on its blog post. The partners have stated that there are much taken for granted in America, where these countries lack even the basic infrastructure.