Gig Harbor native helps bring electrical power to remote parts of Africa

Gig Harbor native Michael Jooste and his team members at JikoPower are working to change the world.

They are doing this by providing electricity to people in developing nations without access to reliable power with their JikoPower Spark — a small thermoelectric generator that transforms the energy from cookstoves and fires to electricity that can charge a cellphone or another small device.

“The biggest challenge is not the access to cellphones,” Jooste, 24, said. “There’s this need to have portable electricity in these developing countries so they can keep their devices charged.”

Jooste entered the project after Ryan Ahearn, president and founder of JikoPower, and two other engineers had created the generator and were looking for areas globally that were in need of such a device.

A graduate of Gig Harbor High, Jooste is now the CEO of JikoPower and working to bring the Spark to Sub-Saharan Africa.

The JikoPower Spark is a 1.5-pound device made from aluminum and copper costing $50, which will pay for itself within two months.

A water reservoir on the side of the device is filled and then the generator is placed over a heat source; the temperature differential creates electricity that can charge a flip phone in less than an hour and a smartphone in less than two hours.

There are no moving parts on the device, which was tested, Jooste said, by throwing it against the ground.

“They hold up pretty well,” he said.

The engineers at JikoPower estimate the lifespan of the JikoPower Spark to be three to five years, and the devices are shipped assembled from the manufacturing center in Auburn.

Sub-Saharan Africa was the location that caught the attention of JikoPower members because people in this region often walk several hours, several times a week in order to charge their cellphones, often paying as much as $27 a month for the use of a diesel generator.

“For people living on really low incomes, that’s a sizable portion of someone’s income,” Jooste said.

JikoPower sent pilot devices to Nigeria and Gabon earlier this year and the results, only a month later, showed a positive impact on the communities which received JikoPower Sparks.

The biggest surprise, Jooste said, was that people in these communities have been generating an average income of $150 a month by charging fellow community members a small fee for the use of the device. The presence of these generators in the communities has not only resulted in additional income, but also has removed the need for someone to walk several hours multiple times a week to reach a source of electricity.

“Not only are we electrifying these communities, but we’re creating entrepreneurs who are affecting their communities,” Jooste said.

JikoPower recently won first place at the 2016 University of Washington Business Plan Competition on May 27, and the company has plans to send its device to Kenya with the $25,000 prize money.

Ultimately, Jooste said the goal is to manufacture the device in Kenya in order to provide even more economic support by offering locals employment and fair wages.

“Our whole goal of doing this is to empower people and give people better lives,” he said. “We can do that by giving people access to generators and by giving people jobs and provide them a living wage.”

The first 100 devices will be distributed to Kenya over two weeks in July.

“We have a lot of people who have opened the door to us and we have plenty more around the world looking to get involved with us,” Jooste said.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Gig Harbor native helps bring electrical power to remote parts of Africa."