Innovation

From smart meters to electric cooking, EarthSpark has been expanding perceptions of  'what makes sense' in energy access for more than a decade. Rooted in practical solutions for communities in rural Haiti but bringing experience from US utility and clean energy technology sectors, the team understands the constraints and the potential of building better energy services.

Incubation

EarthSpark does research and development (R+D) in technologies and business models to solve specific aspects of energy poverty. We call this "proving what is possible." Some of EarthSpark's innovations have become companies. SparkMeter, a smart grid technology company spun out from EarthSpark in 2013, was named by Fast Company Magazine as "The Most Innovative Company in Energy" in 2021. After growing to serve minigrid operators in 30 countries, SparkMeter was ultimately commercially unsustainable in the face of sector challenges, and in 2025, EarthSpark re-absorbed the company into its own operations. EarthSpark is now working with peer grid operators, non-profits, and other stakeholders to ensure long term, sustainable smart metering services remain available and can continue to evolve to enable the sector.

At the same time, we work closely with energy users, local entrepreneurs and agriculturalists in rural Haiti and elsewhere to understand how the arrival of electricity can unlock untapped potential in their work and lives. We share experiences from elsewhere in the world, source equipment, and support low-risk trials of new technologies. 

So far, EarthSpark has launched several companies, each working to solve a specific aspect of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7: "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all." All three companies are majority owned by EarthSpark to further the mission of solving energy poverty.

Iteration

Humble in all that we don't know and anxious to find ever-better answers, we work to learn and improve. As we engage with new communities, we do not seek cookie cutter approaches but rather proven recipes that can be adapted and informed by each customer and community.

Members of Fanm Vayant, an agricultural women's cooperative, in Les Anglais, Haiti, have adopted several electric-powered machines for agricultural processing including the corn dekerneling machine pictured here.