A new wave of climate finance is sweeping the Global South, offering an innovative approach to tackling one of the world’s most pressing challenges: climate change. A new platform, Renewables.org, is applying the powerful peer-to-peer lending model pioneered by Kiva to what many consider one of the most underfunded, high-impact climate solutions: distributed solar across emerging markets in Africa and India.
Launched by Kiva co-founder Premal Shah and co-founded by product designer and entrepreneur Lassor Feasley, Renewables.org lets anyone fund solar installations across the Global South for as little as $25. Instead of a one-time donation, every investment is structured as a no-interest five-year loan that repays monthly, allowing impact to recycle again and again. The goal is simple yet profound: unlock climate finance in regions where traditional lenders rarely operate, but where the potential for emissions reduction and energy access gains are among the highest in the world.
The Impact Multiplier: Why the Global South Matters
The urgency for this innovative financing model is clear. Electricity demand in rapidly developing nations like Rwanda, Botswana, and India is surging, and their grids are still predominantly powered by coal. Frontier-market solar remains severely underfunded relative to both its climate impact potential and overwhelming demand.
However, a dollar invested in solar in these regions can have up to 5 times the carbon impact of a comparable project in the U.S. This “Impact Multiplier,” as Renewables.org calls it, is the core of their strategy.
CEO Lassor Feasley, a design-first entrepreneur who previously worked at firms including IDEO, Ford, and Gehl Architects, explained the rationale. “Our investors are extremely demanding; they choose us because we deliver more carbon avoided per dollar invested than any other impact investment we’ve analyzed,” Feasley shared.
This high impact is driven by three factors:
The cost of construction per installed solar panel is as little as one-third of the cost in the United States.
The grids they invest into are typically far more carbon-intensive, often relying heavily on coal and diesel.
Projects are located where sunshine is more abundant. In fact, the average installation in their portfolio receives 20% more annual sunlight than a comparable U.S. project.
These three indicators form their strict investment criteria, ensuring that capital is deployed where solar will “deliver the greatest carbon impact.”
Repayment as Verification of Impact
Since launch, the platform has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals, funding solar installations that expand energy access while simultaneously cutting emissions. The core difference that sets Renewables.org apart from a simple donation platform is its revolving loan structure.
Feasley detailed why the no-interest loan model is more effective than traditional donations. “When you invest in Global South solar projects via Renewables.org, 100% of the funds are wired to solar developers in the Global South, who use the capital to build high-impact sustainable infrastructure and then pay you back monthly over five years,” he said.
This repayment structure is key to sustained engagement. “A handful of donors withdraw repayments, but for the vast majority, the fact that they are being repaid serves as real-world verification of impact. So, they reinvest each month and often grow their account over time,” Feasley noted. Unlike traditional donations where the marginal difference a donor personally made is often obscured, the monthly repayments serve as tangible, verifiable proof of a working, carbon-free system.
Furthermore, he highlights that “0% of their money is spent on administration or marketing; 100% is invested in the Global South.” The ability for users to recycle their funds through reinvestment allows them to “see the long-term arc of their generosity, not just the impact of the initial contribution.”
The Kiva Blueprint for Climate Finance
The success of the model is rooted in the history of microfinance. Shah saw that the current state of climate finance for the Global South “looks a lot like poverty did twenty years ago: dismal prospects, with finance as the bottleneck.”
Feasley explained the inspiration behind scaling this proven model to climate: “My cofounder, Premal Shah, is a well-known social entrepreneur recognized for his work creating the microfinance crowdfunding nonprofit Kiva.org… With the participation of millions of everyday lenders on Kiva.org, life expanded for millions of underserved borrowers… Today, institutional capital has joined the space, and hundreds of billions of dollars in microloans have been deployed and repaid.”
Renewables.org seeks to be the conduit for a similar transformation in climate finance. “If we succeed, capital from millions of 0%-interest lenders will help prove the investability of Global South solar and other sustainable technologies, much like Kiva.org did for microfinance,” Feasley asserted.
The stakes are enormous. If everyday people help close the funding gap, countries across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia can “develop rapidly and sustainably, powered by technologies like solar and batteries.” If they don’t, and development follows the fossil-heavy blueprint of the Global North, “we’re in trouble. The planet cannot sustain the current model.” By channeling philanthropic capital into high-performing solar installations, Renewables.org offers a powerful pathway for individual citizens to drive global change.
To invest in a Renewables.org solar project or give a gift card for others to invest in, visit www.renewables.org.
