Share power with your neighbors when the grid stays dark
Western Cape residents remain without electricity for weeks after severe weather damaged power infrastructure, with 16% of communities still in the dark
PowerCircle lets Western Cape communities form private 'circles' to coordinate generator time slots, battery charging stations, excess solar sharing, and mutual aid during extended outages. Families and small businesses can offer or request resources safely within their verified neighborhood network.
Western Cape homeowners, families, and small businesses in the 16% of communities with unrestored power
Neighborhood-verified peer-to-peer power sharing with reputation scoring and scheduled slots — turns individual backups into a resilient local micro-grid.
friendly
Invite-only groups tied to geographic wards with admin verification
List generators, chargers, solar excess with available time slots
Calendar system for reserving generator hours or charging spots
Daily automated wellness pings for circle members
Review neighbors after transactions to build trust
See what power resources are currently offered in your circle
Match people with compatible battery systems for physical swaps
In-app chat tied to each circle
Show circle how much power was shared vs traditional fuel cost
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| phone | text | No |
| address | text | No |
| ward | text | No |
| reputation_score | int | No |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| name | text | No |
| ward | text | No |
| admin_id | uuid | No |
| invite_code | text | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| circle_id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| resource_type | text | No |
| capacity_kw | int | Yes |
| available_from | timestamp | No |
| available_to | timestamp | No |
| price_per_hour | int | Yes |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| listing_id | uuid | No |
| requester_id | uuid | No |
| status | text | No |
| start_time | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
/api/circles/joinJoin a circle with invite code
/api/resourcesGet available resources in user's circles
/api/bookCreate booking for a resource slot
/api/checkinsSubmit wellness check-in for circle
3 resources per month
None
For businesses only
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 320 | 9% | $720 | $8,640 |
| Month 6 | 2,450 | 14% | $8,575 | $102,900 |
Form trusted circles. Share generators, chargers and solar. Survive outages together.
Seed three pilot circles in Grabouw, Betty's Bay and Kleinmond (heavily affected post-storms). Offer free Neighbor tier for 90 days to the first 40 members per circle. Use existing community leaders as circle admins to drive adoption organically.
General marketplace
No neighborhood trust layer or scheduling
Hyperlocal circles with reputation and scheduling
Network effects — the more households in a ward join circles, the more valuable the resource pool becomes
Prolonged outages have eroded trust in centralized infrastructure. Mobile money and smartphone penetration in Western Cape now make P2P power sharing practical.
Liability for faulty equipment or safety incidents
Require users to confirm equipment is certified and provide strong disclaimers
Low willingness to share expensive assets
Start with charging stations and small solar before full generators
Success: At least 65% of attendees willing to share resources with neighbors
Success: Minimum 25 active bookings in first month
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