Founded in 2018, Xurya Daya Indonesia started by renting out rooftop solar panels to a mall, a health clinic, and a property business. Today, the company has over a 100 projects across Indonesia as of mid 2023, according to co-founder Edwin Widjonarko. “We produce 130 million [kilowatt hours of] clean energy and generate around 3,000 green jobs,” he told Rest of World. In 2019, Xurya collaborated with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on the national program to increase the use of solar panels. Last year, the company raised $33 million in a series A round.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
How has the Indonesian green business landscape changed since you started Xurya?
Solar panel technology is suitable for Indonesia because it is a tropical archipelagic nation. Around 2018, when we were starting out, Indonesian people were starting to grow aware of renewable energy and energy transition. There was also a rise in investment in the energy sector but no one was willing to enter the solar business.
In 2017, we were able to find solar panels priced similar to what was being provided by Perusahaan Listrik Negara, the Indonesian state-owned company that supplies electricity across the country. So we thought that was the perfect time to start this business.
I think nowadays, going green is a global demand. Our customers are eager to go green. Also, it’s cost-saving. Using rooftop solar could cut the operational expense.
What are Xurya’s main challenges?
We are project developers who connect clients, investors, engineering, procurement, and construction teams who install projects. We are responsible for the engineering and operational maintenance, just to make sure the quality is good.
The challenge now is maintaining the quality of the human resources. Other businesses have started to copy our business model, but I think it’s good. After all, as a developer, we can only make a good profit if the whole sector is healthy. And it is getting healthy now.
What are you keen to focus on?
Indonesia needs to produce 25% renewable energy in 2025. There is a discussion to put rooftop solar use in a government plan. I think that’s exactly where we want to focus.
Our rental scheme is still popular. We are expanding very fast. Maybe I will say something slightly different next year, but this year, at the very least, we are focused on rooftop solar.
An Indonesian Company’s Rent-A-Solar-Panel Model Aims To Reduce Emissions
October 3rd, 2023
October 3rd, 2023
Via Rest of World, a report on Xurya Daya Indonesia which claims to be the first startup in the country to rent out rooftop solar panels:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023 at 11:28 am and is filed under Indonesia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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