With the ever rising prices of oil and the insane electricity bills, Pakistan is in desperate need for alternatives to save its fossil fuels and restore the polluted environment. Renewable energy is the best answer to the dilemma this country is facing now as the energy is clean and free. Zorays Solar is a brilliant idea in the form of a company where research graduates congregated to form one sales field force. They have numerous projects all over the country, for instance, Taleem Foundation e-learning classes in Balochistan, Solar Water Pump D-12 Margalla Islamabad and Small domestic PV solutions New Garden Town Lahore. . Currently, Zorays Solar has a team size of 13 employees, comprising on 1 P
hD Scholar, 4 Masters Researchers, and rest of them including the CEO with BSc. engineering degrees lead by Mr. Khalid Islam (ex-director General Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies).
The recent highlight for the company is the opening of their Head Office in DHA, Lahore which is emerging as the new center for startups and host incubation/acceleration platforms such as Dojo and Kickstart.
Zorays Solar is a staunch company. In 2015, several attempts were made by others to try to buy it but Zorays Solar refused to be bought. Nor have they accepted the request for shareholding by their current foreign partner, politely denying it. Zorays Solar believe to run without seeking any local investments and they appear not to be participating in any foreign aid programmes. They have been questioned about their current revenue stream and their sources for salaries, to which the company replied,
“Well to be honest, customization is our niche and there is a premium price for quality. Zorays Solar ensures quality in the first place to make sure it carries through the free 18-month after sales services time. Beyond that there is an optional recurring subscription to afford for the guarantee period times. We have been striving to provide not so ready-made solutions; and we know what we do is right backed by theory. Everybody claims their products/services as the best, ensuring client’s interest by maximizing ROI and minimizing payback time is our genre.”
It becomes interesting to know how this little startup has been competing against the well established companies. For one thing, they have a strong team lead by the best professionals including Mr. Khalid Islam and Dr. Hadeed A. Sher, the technical Director. The other aspect which aids in their triumph is the use of social media, website and the establishment of an intellectual community on Linkedin, a Professional Networking Platform. It must be noted that their package names are innovative themselves. The names are based on central cities of Pakistan, like Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad and Islamabad. Whereas, their standardized solution packages are named after the Legends of Pakistan like Late Singer Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Late Actor Sultan Rahi.
Mr. Zorays, CEO of the company, explained in his interview how the company has been able to compete with its competitors,
“Due to our recent participations in the bidding processes of huge tenders. We are being approached by employees from top tier Renewable Energy companies of Pakistan seeking roles in our organization. That we humbly refuse because it is too early for us to be part of the status quo. And we never plan to.”
It is of utmost necessity for Pakistan to recognize these startups and give them the deserved exposure for increasing usage of Renewable energy. It will not only boast our entrepreneur culture but also give us a much needed healthy environment.