Sun King’s Crown: 156m Reasons Off-Grid Solar Has Finally Grown Up

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Doors open on a new energy era

Kenyan company Sun King calls itself “the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company.” That’s not just marketing hyperbole—and it’s a statement that reveals how the energy landscape has shifted beneath our feet. The company’s recent $156 million securitisation (meaning sale of their existing revenue streams), the largest of its kind in Africa, isn’t just another funding round. It’s a watershed moment that signals the off-grid solar industry has finally matured from a niche development sector into a legitimate financial asset class that commercial banks are willing to bet serious money on.

But here’s what makes this story truly compelling: Sun King’s claim to being the world’s largest isn’t based on the usual Silicon Valley metrics of valuation or venture capital raised. Instead, it’s built on something more meaningful—actual impact at scale. With over 27 million solar products sold, 23 million homes powered, and $1.3 billion in solar loans extended to nearly 10 million customers across 46 countries, Sun King has quietly assembled the largest customer base in the off-grid energy sector while most of us were still debating whether distributed solar could ever be commercially viable.

 For the first time, commercial banks are treating off-grid solar as a mainstream financial asset rather than a development experiment. This legitimisation opens doors to capital pools that dwarf traditional development finance, creating the potential for unprecedented scale in clean energy deployment.

The timing of this funding is significant. As the world grapples with energy security, climate change, and the persistent challenge of providing electricity to 1.8 billion people who still lack reliable access, Sun King’s securitisation proves that market-based solutions can scale to meet these challenges—if we’re willing to think differently about how energy systems work.

Off-grid solar companies lacks the standardised metrics that financial analysts need to define leadership in traditional energy markets. Unlike utility-scale solar where gigawatts of installed capacity provide clear rankings, or residential solar where revenue figures tell the story, off-grid solar operates in a more complex ecosystem where success must be measured across multiple dimensions.

Sun King’s claim to the crown rests on several metrics. First, customer reach: with nearly 10 million individual customers served, Sun King has built a customer base that dwarfs its closest competitors [1]. For context, d.light, another major player founded the same year as Sun King’s predecessor Greenlight Planet, reports revenue of approximately $217-309 million annually but serves significantly fewer customers [2]. M-KOPA, the Kenyan fintech-solar hybrid, boasts higher reported revenue at $618.8 million but operates primarily in East Africa with a more limited geographic footprint [3].

What’s particularly striking is Sun King’s product volume: over 27 million solar products sold represents a scale of manufacturing and distribution that few companies in any sector achieve, let alone in the challenging off-grid markets of Africa and Asia. This isn’t just about bragging rights—it demonstrates something crucial about the company’s operational capabilities and market penetration that traditional metrics often miss.

The geographic scope tells another part of the story. Operating across 46 countries with 29,000 field agents, Sun King has built what amounts to the world’s largest distributed energy sales and service network [4]. This infrastructure represents years of investment in local relationships, regulatory navigation, and supply chain development that would be nearly impossible for competitors to replicate quickly.

Perhaps most importantly, Sun King has extended $1.3 billion in solar loans—a figure that reveals the true scale of their financial innovation [5]. This isn’t just about selling products; it’s about creating an entirely new category of financial services that makes clean energy accessible to populations that traditional banking has largely ignored. When you consider that many of these customers are making their first formal financial transaction through a Sun King solar loan, the company isn’t just selling energy—it’s building financial inclusion at unprecedented scale.

THREE KINGS

Sun King’s founders are all from Illinios, USA: Patrick Walsh, a physics and economics graduate, who worked with Engineers Without Borders in India; Anish Thakkar, an electrical engineer  who co-founded Greenlight Planet and led growth, including his work with Illini 4000 for Cancer; and Mayank Seksaharia, also an electrical engineering graduate, who co-founded Greenlight Planet.

The validation of Sun King’s “largest” claim comes not from the company itself but from third-party institutions that have no incentive to inflate their achievements. The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm, consistently refers to Sun King as “the world’s leading off-grid solar energy company” in official communications [6]. Bloomberg, hardly known for accepting corporate marketing claims uncritically, uses the same terminology in their financial reporting [7]. This institutional recognition suggests that Sun King’s scale claims have been vetted by organisations with access to comprehensive market data.

But here’s why this matters beyond corporate rankings: size in the off-grid solar sector translates directly into impact and sustainability. The larger the customer base, the more data the company has to improve products and reduce costs. The broader the geographic reach, the more resilient the business model becomes to local economic or political disruptions. The deeper the financial services integration, the more likely customers are to continue upgrading their energy systems over time.

Sun King’s scale also creates a virtuous cycle that benefits the entire off-grid solar ecosystem. Their manufacturing volumes help drive down component costs for all players. Their financing innovations create templates that other companies can adapt. Their regulatory relationships in 46 countries help establish frameworks that benefit the entire sector.

Critics might argue that revenue would be a better measure of “largest,” and they’d have a point if we were talking about traditional energy companies. But off-grid solar operates on fundamentally different economics. The goal isn’t to maximize revenue per customer but to maximize access and affordability. Sun King’s model of small, frequent payments—starting at just $0.19 per day—means their revenue per customer is intentionally low, but their customer lifetime value and social impact are maximized [8].

This is where Sun King’s approach reveals something profound about the future of energy systems. Instead of building large, centralized assets that generate high revenues from relatively few customers, they’ve built a distributed network that generates modest revenues from millions of customers. It’s the difference between being a traditional utility and being the energy equivalent of a mobile phone network—and in markets where traditional utilities have failed to reach rural populations, the mobile model is proving far more effective.

The $156 Million Milestone: When Commercial Banks Finally Get It

The real story isn’t just the size of Sun King’s latest funding round—it’s who’s providing the money and what that signals about the maturation of off-grid solar as an asset class. This $156 million securitization represents a fundamental shift in how the financial world views distributed energy systems, and the implications extend far beyond Sun King’s operations in Kenya.

Let’s be clear about what happened here: five major commercial banks—ABSA, Citi, The Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, and Stanbic Bank Kenya—agreed to fund the senior tranche of this securitization [9]. These aren’t development finance institutions with social mandates or impact investors willing to accept below-market returns. These are profit-maximizing commercial banks that have concluded Sun King’s pay-as-you-go solar model generates sufficiently predictable cash flows to justify their investment.

This is revolutionary. For years, off-grid solar companies have struggled to access commercial capital at scale, forcing them to rely on a patchwork of development finance, impact investment, and venture capital that often came with misaligned incentives and limited scale. The result was an industry that could demonstrate impact but struggled to achieve the financial sustainability needed for true scale.

The securitisation structure itself reveals sophisticated financial engineering that transforms future customer payments into investable assets. Sun King converts the stream of small, daily payments from millions of customers into bonds that institutional investors can purchase. It’s the same basic mechanism that allowed the mortgage industry to scale by packaging individual home loans into mortgage-backed securities, but applied to $0.19-per-day solar payments in rural Kenya [10].

What makes this particularly impressive is the local currency denomination. This isn’t another dollar-denominated deal that shifts currency risk to borrowers—it’s a Kenyan Shilling securitisation that keeps the risk where it belongs while demonstrating that local capital markets can support clean energy infrastructure. The involvement of three development finance institutions (British International Investment, FMO, and Norfund) in the mezzanine tranche provides additional risk mitigation while allowing commercial banks to take the senior position [11].

 

The numbers tell a compelling story about the underlying business model. This single transaction is expected to finance approximately 1.4 million solar products and smartphones, bringing electricity access to an equivalent number of households for the first time [12]. Combined with Sun King’s previous $130 million securitisation in 2023, the company will have delivered an estimated 3.7 million solar products through just two financial transactions.

Here’s what’s really significant: the deal received a “Very Good” (SQS2) score from Moody’s Investor Relations under Sun King’s Sustainable Financing Framework [13]. This isn’t just about environmental impact—it’s about credit quality. Moody’s is essentially saying that Sun King’s customer payment patterns are predictable enough to support institutional investment, which validates the entire pay-as-you-go solar model.

The timing couldn’t be more important. As the International Energy Agency reports, Kenya is one of the few Sub-Saharan African countries on track for near-universal electricity access by 2030, with distributed solar playing a central role [14]. Sun King’s securitisation provides a financial template that other countries and companies can replicate, potentially accelerating progress toward the World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030.

This is where the broader implications become clear. If commercial banks are willing to fund off-grid solar at this scale in Kenya, similar deals become possible across Africa and Asia. The securitization model can be adapted to different regulatory environments and currency zones, creating a pathway for the massive capital mobilisation that universal energy access requires.

The deal also demonstrates something crucial about the evolution of development finance. Rather than simply providing concessional capital, development finance institutions are increasingly playing a catalytic role that crowds in commercial investment. The mezzanine tranche provided by BII, FMO, and Norfund doesn’t just add capital—it provides the risk mitigation that allows commercial banks to participate in markets they might otherwise avoid.

For Sun King specifically, this funding represents more than just growth capital. It validates their business model at institutional scale and provides a template for raising similar capital in their other markets. The company has already indicated plans to raise local currency capital across Africa, with $450 million already secured across Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania [15]. If they can replicate this securitization model across their 46-country footprint, the scale of capital mobilization could be transformational for the entire off-grid sector.

Critics might point out that securitisation was at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, and they wouldn’t be wrong to urge caution. But there are crucial differences here. Sun King’s underlying assets are small, diversified payments from millions of customers rather than concentrated exposure to a single asset class like housing. The payment streams are backed by tangible assets (solar systems) that provide ongoing value to customers rather than speculative investments. And the social and environmental benefits create additional stakeholder alignment that purely financial assets lack.

The real test will be performance over time. If Sun King’s customers continue making payments at the rates the securitization assumes, it will demonstrate that off-grid solar can generate the predictable cash flows that institutional investors require. If payment rates disappoint, it could set back the entire sector’s access to commercial capital.

Early indicators are promising. Sun King reports that 30% of Kenyan homes already have access to their solar products, suggesting strong market penetration and customer satisfaction [16]. The company’s 15-year track record provides substantial data on customer payment patterns across different economic cycles and market conditions. And the involvement of sophisticated financial institutions suggests thorough due diligence on the underlying credit quality.

Perhaps most importantly, this securitisation proves that market-based solutions can mobilise capital for development challenges at unprecedented scale. The $156 million raised through this single transaction exceeds the annual budgets of many development agencies, yet it’s structured to generate returns for investors while expanding energy access. It’s a model that could be applied to other infrastructure challenges across the developing world, from water systems to telecommunications to transportation.

Ripple Effects Across Off-Grid Energy

Sun King’s securitisation success isn’t just a win for one company—it’s a proof of concept that could reshape how we think about energy infrastructure financing across the developing world. The implications ripple far beyond Kenya’s borders and extend into fundamental questions about how we achieve universal energy access in an era of climate change and economic uncertainty.

The model that Sun King has pioneered could be adapted by other off-grid energy companies, potentially democratizing access to commercial capital across the sector. Alternatively, it could trigger a wave of consolidation as smaller players seek to achieve the scale necessary to attract institutional investment.

Kenya’s success as a testing ground for off-grid solar reflects a relatively stable regulatory environment, widespread mobile money adoption that facilitates payment collection, and a government committed to expanding energy access. But many of these conditions exist in other African and Asian markets where Sun King operates. Nigeria, with its massive population and growing mobile money infrastructure, could be the next candidate for a similar securitisation. Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana all have regulatory frameworks that could support structured finance for off-grid solar.

The potential for replication extends beyond Sun King’s existing markets. Countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia face similar energy access challenges and have increasingly sophisticated financial markets that could  the Kenya model if it proves successful over time, it could become a template for mobilising commercial capital for energy access across the developing world.

This is where the numbers become truly staggering. The International Energy Agency estimates that achieving universal energy access by 2030 will require annual investments of $35 billion, with the majority needed in Sub-Saharan Africa [17]. Traditional development finance and government budgets are nowhere near sufficient to meet this need. But if the securitisation model can be scaled across multiple countries and companies, it could unlock the commercial capital necessary to close the energy access gap.

The technology implications are equally important. Sun King’s scale and access to capital position them to drive innovation across the off-grid solar value chain. Their manufacturing volumes give them leverage with component suppliers and the resources to invest in product development. Their customer data provides insights into usage patterns and preferences that can inform next-generation products. Their financial services platform creates opportunities to expand into adjacent markets like smartphones, appliances, and even electric vehicles.

This innovation potential is crucial because the off-grid solar market is far from mature. Current products primarily serve basic lighting and phone charging needs, but customer demand is rapidly evolving toward higher-capacity systems that can power televisions, refrigerators, and other appliances. Sun King’s PowerHub product line, which provides “grid-equivalent solar power,” represents the direction the industry is heading [18]. Companies that can scale these higher-capacity systems while maintaining affordability will capture the largest share of the expanding market.

The financial inclusion implications deserve special attention. Sun King’s pay-as-you-go model doesn’t just provide energy access—it creates credit histories for customers who have been excluded from formal financial systems. These payment records could become the foundation for expanded financial services, from savings accounts to insurance to business loans. The company is already bundling smartphones with solar systems, creating a platform for digital financial services that could transform rural economies.

This is where Sun King’s model intersects with broader trends in financial technology and digital inclusion. Mobile money platforms like M-Pesa have demonstrated the potential for leapfrog innovation in financial services, and Sun King’s solar loans represent a natural extension of this ecosystem. As customers build credit histories through solar payments, they become eligible for additional financial products that can support income generation and economic development.

The climate implications are perhaps the most significant of all. The off-grid solar sector directly addresses one of the most challenging aspects of climate policy: how to expand energy access in developing countries without increasing carbon emissions. Traditional approaches to rural electrification rely heavily on fossil fuel generation, whether through grid extension powered by coal and gas or distributed diesel generators. Sun King’s model proves that clean energy can be more affordable and accessible than fossil alternatives, even in the most challenging markets.

 If Sun King’s deal enables the company to reach its stated goal of serving 100 million customers by 2030, it would represent one of the largest climate mitigation efforts in history. Each household that switches from kerosene lamps and diesel generators to solar power eliminates several tons of CO2 emissions annually while improving health outcomes and reducing energy costs.

And the climate benefits extend beyond direct emissions reductions. By demonstrating that distributed renewable energy can be commercially viable at scale, Sun King’s success could influence energy planning decisions across the developing world. Governments and utilities that might otherwise invest in fossil fuel infrastructure may instead choose to support distributed solar systems that can be deployed more quickly and with less capital risk.

The geopolitical implications are also worth considering. Energy security has become a central concern for governments worldwide, and distributed solar systems offer resilience advantages that centralised infrastructure cannot match. A network of millions of small solar systems is inherently more resilient to disruption than large power plants and transmission lines. For countries seeking to reduce dependence on energy imports, supporting domestic off-grid solar industries could become a strategic priority.

There’s also the question of whether the pay-as-you-go model can maintain its social benefits as it scales. The current model works because it makes solar accessible to low-income customers who couldn’t afford upfront payments. But as the industry matures and attracts more commercial capital, there’s a risk that profit pressures could lead to practices that prioritise returns over accessibility.

The regulatory environment will be crucial in determining whether Sun King’s success can be replicated broadly. Governments will need to develop frameworks that protect consumers while enabling innovation in financial services and energy systems. The balance between regulation and innovation will determine whether the off-grid solar sector can achieve its potential for transforming energy access.

The success of this model could also influence how we approach other infrastructure challenges in developing countries. If small, distributed payments can support large-scale infrastructure investment in energy, similar models might work for water systems, telecommunications, transportation, and other essential services. The financial innovation that Sun King has pioneered could become a template for market-based development across multiple sectors.

The Crown Fits: What Sun King’s Success Means for Energy’s Future

As I write this, somewhere in rural Kenya, a customer is making their daily $0.19 payment for a Sun King solar system through their mobile phone. It’s a transaction so small it barely registers in global financial markets, yet it represents something profound: the democratisation of energy infrastructure financing. When millions of these micro-payments are aggregated and securitized, they become powerful enough to attract institutional capital and transform entire energy systems.

Perhaps the most important lesson from Sun King’s success is that market-based solutions can address development challenges at unprecedented scale when the incentives are properly aligned. The company has extended $1.3 billion in solar loans to nearly 10 million customers not because they’re a charity, but because they’ve figured out how to make clean energy more affordable and accessible than fossil alternatives. Profit and purpose aren’t in conflict here—they’re mutually reinforcing.

This alignment of commercial incentives with social and environmental benefits could be the key to achieving universal energy access by 2030. Traditional approaches that rely primarily on government funding and development finance have made progress, but they haven’t achieved the scale or speed that the challenge requires. Sun King’s model demonstrates that commercial capital can be mobilized for energy access if the financial structures are designed correctly.

The implications extend far beyond the energy sector. If small, distributed payments can support large-scale infrastructure investment in energy, similar models might work for water systems, telecommunications, transportation, and other essential services. The financial innovation that Sun King has pioneered could become a template for market-based development across multiple sectors.

 

Of course, success isn’t guaranteed. It odel depends on continued customer payments, which could be vulnerable to economic downturns or political instability. The rapid growth enabled by commercial capital could strain operational capabilities if not managed carefully. And there’s always the risk that profit pressures could compromise the social mission that makes the model work.

But these risks are manageable, and the potential rewards are enormous. If Sun King can replicate its success across a 46-country footprint, it could unlock billions of dollars in commercial capital for clean energy deployment. If other companies can adapt the model to their own markets, it could transform the entire off-grid energy sector. And if the approach can be extended to other infrastructure challenges, it could reshape how we think about development finance in the 21st century.

The crown of “world’s largest off-grid solar company” fits Sun King not just because of their current scale, but because they’ve built a model that can scale further than anyone previously imagined. By proving that commercial capital can be mobilised for energy access at institutional scale, they’ve opened a pathway to universal energy access that doesn’t depend on charity or government largesse.

In a world grappling with climate change, energy security, and persistent poverty, that’s exactly the kind of innovation we need. Sun King’s success suggests that the future of energy won’t be built by utilities or governments alone, but by companies that can align commercial incentives with social and environmental benefits at massive scale..

That would be a legacy worthy of any king.

 

References

[1] Sun King. “About Sun King.” https://sunking.com/about-sun-king/

 

[2] d.light. “Company Overview.” ZoomInfo. https://www.zoominfo.com/c/dlight-ltd/351094927

 

[3] M-KOPA. “Revenue and Competitors.” Growjo. https://growjo.com/company/M-KOPA

 

[4] Sun King. “Powering Access to Brighter Lives.” https://sunking.com/

 

[5] Sun King. “$156M Sun King Securitisation to Deliver Solar for Over a Million Kenyans.” July 28, 2025. https://sunking.com/solar-news/156m-sun-king-securitisation-to-deliver-solar-for-over-a-million-kenyans/

 

[6] International Finance Corporation. “Sun King, IFC, and Stanbic IBTC Bank Close $80 Million Debt Facility.” May 15, 2025. https://www.ifc.org/en/pressroom/2025/sun-king-ifc-and-stanbic-ibtc-bank-close-80-million-debt-facility-to-expand-solar-

 

[7] Vanek, Monique. “Sun King Wins Citi-Backed Loan to Boost Kenya Solar Power Access.” Bloomberg, July 28, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-28/sun-king-wins-citi-backed-loan-to-boost-kenya-solar-power-access

 

[8] Sun King. “$156M Sun King Securitisation to Deliver Solar for Over a Million Kenyans.”

 

[9] Ibid.

 

[10] Ibid.

 

[11] Ibid.

 

[12] Ibid.

 

[13] Ibid.

 

[14] Ibid.

 

[15] Ibid.

 

[16] Ibid.

 

[17] International Energy Agency. “Energy Access Outlook 2023.” https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-access-outlook-2023

[18] Sun King. “Solar AC Electricity Systems.” https://sunking.com/solar-ac-electricity-systems/

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