A farmer wakes to loud silence. Not the quiet of a rural morning, but the absence of something that had been there the night before—the sparkle of solar panels in his irrigation field.
He walks to the field anyway. What remains is a stripped metal frame. Six months of savings gone. He stands there for a long time. The panels that were supposed to free him from diesel cost have made him a target.
This experience has played out across Malawi. Those lucky to keep their solar panels faced another frustration: Electricity-powered pumps in the fields while homes remained dark.
In Mchesi Township in Lilongwe, Brighton Zelemoti, a young agriculture graduate, kept hearing the same story.
“They would say ‘solar works’, but only works in the field when I am there. When I am not around , it gets stolen. It was solving one problem while creating two others,” he says.
Driven by that contradiction, Zelemoti, then 26, founded Favoa Innovations and Investments Group. The team did not reinvent solar technology. They rethought its use.
“We asked ourselves: What if the panels never left the house?”
The solution
The answer was simple: Solar panels installed at the farmer’s home or a supervisor’s residence, where they are safer.
The energy is stored in a portable unit that can be taken to the farm to power pumps and later returned home to supply electricity.
One system, two uses.
“Farmers did not need more sophisticated panels,” Zelemoti says. “They needed a system that fits their reality, with security built into the design.”
The innovation, named the Nkula Solar Genset, quickly proved its value.
Farmers reported improved returns as the same investment powered both irrigation and household needs. Children could study at night. Phones stayed charged. Theft became far less likely. A practical problem has found a practical solution.
The wall
Demand grew. Then came interest from larger institutions. But instead of scaling, the enterprise stalled.
“The questions changed,” Zelemoti says. “It was no longer ‘Does it work?’ but ‘Is it certified? Is it safe?’”
For the youth-led start-up, these questions were daunting. Certification required technical documentation, safety testing, and regulatory approval.
“We had to choose,” he says. “Stay small or take the risk and try to scale.”
They chose certification.
The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) regulates the energy sector, ensuring all technologies meet safety, quality and performance standards.
Certification protects users from unsafe products while giving compliant innovations credibility, helping them scale into institutional and commercial use.
The process was meticulous. Systems were tested, designs scrutinised and standards verified. When certification came, it changed everything.
“We moved from convincing people to trust us to working with people who already did,” Zelemoti says.
Confidence grew. Institutions engaged. The Nkula Solar Genset shifted from informal innovation to recognised solution.
Its reach extended beyond Malawi. Hospitals, struggling with unreliable electricity supply in Zambia began adopting the system as backup power.
The same portability that solved a farmer’s problem now supported critical services.
Lived impact
Mary Kanchiputu, a diabetic woman from Mpemba in Blantyre, turned to the system after a costly failure.
“I bought a solar system for K5.5 million, but within 10 months lightning damaged the inverter,” she says. “I lost my refrigerator and six months’ worth of medication.”
Frustrated by repair costs despite a warranty, she searched for alternatives and discovered the Nkula Solar Genset on TV.
“It offered exactly what I needed. Since installing it, my life has changed. I no longer dread blackouts. My refrigerator runs continuously. It’s freedom at last.”
In Chitedze on the outskirts of Lilongwe City, Omega Phambala shares a similar experience.
“My house is not connected to the grid, but I can power everything,” he says. “My experience over two years has been flawless. I do not even need Escom power anymore.”
The principle
Today, Favoa is expanding, exploring partnerships and scaling into new communities.
Yet its foundation remains the same: A farmer standing in an empty field, confronting loss.
“We set out to solve a real problem,” Zelemoti says. “Certification came because we wanted to solve it properly.”
Innovation is not always about new technology. Sometimes it is about understanding how existing tools fit into people’s lives.
From stolen panels to certified systems powering homes and hospitals, the Nkula Solar Genset reflects a shift in how solutions take shape, grounded in lived experience and carried forward by trust.
