PHOTO CAPTION: Greenlight Planet Boss Patrick Walsh Disappointed consumers have voiced concerns over the quality of solar products brought to the Kenyan market under a collaboration between Greenlight Planet and One Acre Fund.
Writing to this blog on Sunday, July 3, a buyer expressed his dissatisfaction with the lamps sold under the "Sun King " brand, claiming that their gadgets often break down months before the exhaustion of a two-year warranty that is granted during purchase.
The source also complained that both Greenlight Planet - the manufacturer of the product - and One Acre fund do not provide after-sales service.
This helps to maximize profits by ensuring clients always return to buy new lamps when the old ones eventually develop malfunctions. "Hello Cyprian, Kindly highlight the fraud being perpetrated by Green Planet Kenya (Sun King) in collaboration with the One Acre Fund in the sale of solar lamps. These solar lamps are sold with a two-year warranty. Most of them break down after the warranty and both Sun King the manufacturer and One Acre Fund do not offer any after-sales service. Customers are then forced to buy new solar lamps. Kindly expose these cheats," the source writes. One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that supplies smallholder farmers in East Africa with asset-based financing and agriculture training services to reduce hunger and poverty.
On the other hand, Sun King was founded in 2007 by T. Patrick Walsh (CEO) and Anish Thakkar.
It has sold its products in over 40 countries, including Kenya, one of its first markets, where it reports having reached over 18 million people over 10 years of operations.
It also has a presence in Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria.