# Sawa Energy's Bellavista proposal (competitor benchmark)

> What Sawa Energy offered Bellavista Apartments (Pearl Marina) for solar and storage, and what NFE took from it for the Commercial RPM. Bellavista is also in NFE's pipeline (see [Potential Customers](https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/link/61)). Based on Sawa's proposal document "Bellavista (576kW) Proposal_Lease to Own_Battery", reviewed 18 Sep 2026. Owner: Aaron Tushabe.

## Sawa's offer

| Item | Sawa's Bellavista proposal |
|---|---|
| Solar | 576 kWp |
| Battery | 691 kWh (about 2 hours) |
| Ground area | 3,200 m² |
| Stated system value | UGX 4.762 billion |
| Upfront cost to the customer | None |
| Monthly lease | USD 17,038 (operating lease USD 13,068 + O&M USD 3,970) |
| Term | 25 years |
| Security deposit | 3 months (USD 51,113) |
| Ownership | Optional purchase from year 3 at a declining, predefined price; transfer for USD 1 after 25 years |
| Share of consumption covered | 43% overall; 85% of daytime consumption |
| Included | Monitoring, maintenance, insurance, warranty management, panel washing and repairs, with inverter replacement about every 7 years and battery replacement about every 10 years ("set it and forget it") |
| Sizing | Subject to validation by logging actual consumption |

The lease comes to about USD 204,000 a year, or about USD 5.1m over 25 years before escalation or discounting. Bellavista pays it whether it uses a little electricity or a lot.

## How it compares with a Commercial RPM

| | Sawa (lease-to-own) | NFE Commercial RPM |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays for | Equipment: a fixed monthly lease | Electricity used, per kWh at the utility tariff, with a 50% minimum |
| Who carries volume risk | The customer | Mostly NFE, above the 50% floor |
| Reliability | Comes with the equipment | Part of the service and included in the price |
| Proposal is built around | The asset (kWp, kWh, system value) | The service (the power stays on at the same price) |
| Capital | The full system up front | In phases: measure first, then build what the data supports |
| Ownership | From year 3; USD 1 at year 25 | Optional purchase from year 5 |

## What NFE adopted

- **"Set it and forget it" risk allocation.** NFE owns, monitors, maintains, repairs, insures and replaces the equipment for as long as it runs the system, all covered by the energy price.
- **A predefined buyout schedule** agreed at signing, so the customer always has a path to ownership at a known price.
- **An onboarding sequence:** data logging → credit assessment → site assessment → final design → contract → deployment. Sawa asks for corporate documents, utility bills or audited statements, credit references and site or roof information.

## What NFE does differently, on purpose

- Bills for energy, not for equipment.
- Leads proposals with the service, with the hardware list secondary.
- Deploys capital in phases as consumption is proven, rather than financing the whole system on day one.

Related: [NFE Commercial Reliable Power Microgrids](https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/link/146) · [Commercial RPM decision log](https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/link/187)