Two siblings from Kenya challenged international innovators by beating Tesla founder Elon Musk to market with their solar innovation.
Charity Wanjiku and her brother Tony Nyaga birthed their solar tiles idea way before Tesla which majority consider the pioneer of the industry.
They came up with the idea in the late 1990s after Kenya went through 16-hour power rationing blackouts while Musk announced his solar tiles in 2016.
Wanjiku is the Chief Operations Officer of Strauss Energy which she co-founded with her brother who develops partnerships and directs the company growth strategies.
She told Forbes journalists "We are both techies. He’s an engineer and I’m an architect. The question begged itself: how do we amass our expertise towards introducing a speeding catalyst to the power/ electricity problem we have in the country?"
The two tried it first as a school project for their Masters Degree and it worked like a charm, despite skepticism.
"Like every new product, especially in the construction industry, we were met with a number of side-eyes that doubted the efficiency and cost saving of our integrated solution, and an equal measure of enthusiasm from those who were interested in sustainable construction and energy, ” stated Wanjiku.
The company has diversified into mini-grids, solar water heating systems and innovating in compressed air energy storage solutions.
Since the law on mandatory solar water heating installation for certain homes was introduced in Kenya a year ago, it has given their business added momentum.
When asked whether the Tesla roof tiles gave them validation, she responded "In my opinion, the reverse is true. Strauss Stima tile was in existence three years before Tesla’s was unveiled.”
“The fact that an innovation giant like Tesla has a similar product to Strauss Energy elates us as an African innovative company,” she noted.
