The Halisi Trolley: IoT-Enabled Solar Clean-Cooking Food Cart
MLC Voyager | Zuhura Solutions
Zuhura Solutions' Halisi Trolley tackles urban street food vendors' (mostly women and youth) reliance on polluting charcoal, which causes health issues, high costs, and climate harm. This solar-bioethanol hybrid Productive Use of Energy (PUE) asset uses a solar PV array and LiFePO4 battery for IoT, lighting, food warming, and charging, paired with an efficient bioethanol cookstove for commercial high-heat cooking. It delivers 14+ hours of autonomy, slashing fuel costs by 70%, eliminating smoke exposure, and displacing 1.83 tonnes of CO₂e per unit yearly. PAYGo financing makes it accessible to micro-entrepreneurs, fostering inclusive livelihoods and clean cooking scale-up.
60,000 Lives Impacted
The Halisi Trolley revolutionizes urban street food vending, historically overlooked in clean cooking, by transforming energy costs into a wealth-building asset for women and youth earning under $5.50/day.
1. Economic empowerment: Cuts fuel costs 75% ($730/year savings), doubles income via "Night Shift" LED lighting (30% turnover boost), and builds credit history through IoT-tracked PAYGo payments for financial inclusion.
2. Public health: Delivers smoke-free bioethanol cooking, slashing respiratory risks and enhancing food safety with stainless steel and thermal control for 50,000 daily urban consumers.
3. Climate resilience: Each unit avoids 2.3 tonnes CO₂e/year; scaling to 1,000 by 2027 mitigates 2,300 tonnes, preserving forests and watersheds.
Zuhura's trolley professionalizes informal economies, fostering equitable livelihoods, health, and green urban futures.
The Innovation
Zuhura Solutions' Halisi Trolley pioneers a "Vertical Green Utility" for Africa's urban informal food vendors, shifting them from biomass to solar-bioethanol hybrids.
What it does and how it works: The Halisi Trolley integrates Solar PV, LiFePO4 batteries, IoT telemetry, LED lighting, and efficient bioethanol stoves into a mobile cart for high-heat commercial cooking, power services, and PAYGo lease-to-own financing, building credit via usage data. Decentralized Fuel Hubs ensure reliable clean fuel access.
Implementation and reach: Deployed in Kenyan urban markets, targeting unbanked women/youth vendors facing fuel, infrastructure, and finance barriers.
Uniqueness: First "EquityTech" platform combining energy, mechatronics, and finance in a "Business-in-a-Box", unlike siloed clean cooking or lighting solutions.
Scaling plans: Manufacture 3,000–5,000+ units by 2027 for rollout across Kenya’s 47 counties. Each vendor serves ~50 customers daily, reaching over 5 million customers monthly across all deployed units.
Implemented in
Kenya
Get in touch
Pherister Nyangarisa, CEO & Co-Founder
About Zuhura Solution
Zuhura Solutions transforms Kenya's urban informal economy by equipping micro-entrepreneurs, primarily women and youth, with clean productive use of energy (PUE) assets. We convert daily economic activity into lasting financial identity and opportunity. Our affordable, efficient solutions boost income and productivity while catalyzing Africa's energy and food sectors, forging clear pathways to prosperity for all.
