ONergy: India can’t rely on coal – it must go renewable
Interview with Vinay Jaju Co-founder and COO at ONergy, Head at Switch ON “Energy is not the end. It’s just the means to the end”. Vinay Jaju’s interest in environmentalism first got serious while he was working in Australia and got involved with local forest conservation efforts. When he returned to India in 2008, he …
ONergy: India can’t rely on coal – it must go renewable Read More »
[:en]Going off the grid: Disaster, resilience, and off-grid energy[:]
[:en] When disaster strikes, a community’s ability to respond and recover is tested, whether it is affected by a flood, an earthquake, a drought, a tsunami, or a hurricane, and whether it is located in a rural, urban, or peri-urban area. In this webinar, we’ll bring together experts who have worked in Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, …
[:en]Going off the grid: Disaster, resilience, and off-grid energy[:] Read More »
Smart Villages Podcast 4 – Renewable energy & going “beyond coal”: A conversation with Daniel Kammen (21.5 minutes)
This is the second podcast (21.5 minutes) in our two-part series of interviews with Professor Daniel Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Goldman School of Public Policy and Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. (Listen to Part 1) Sir Brian Heap, Senior Advisor to …
Smart Villages Podcast 3 – A brief look at the off-grid energy work of Daniel Kammen, University of California Berkeley
In this short 8.5 minute podcast, you’ll listen to Part One of our two-part interview series with Professor Daniel Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Goldman School of Public Policy and Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. (Listen to Part Two) Sir Brian Heap, …
Juabar’s “Media Hubs” bring women’s health TV and Swahili “Sesame Street” to rural Tanzania
Interview with Olivia Nava Co-founder and CEO, Juabar Location: Oakland, California / Tanzania “Anywhere where there is mobile money, there is a potential for services in delivery and market opportunities.” Juabar is a solar entrepreneurs’ network which has been based in Tanzania since 2013. The three-person company behind the initial model, of a solar panel …
One angel investor on launching 10 off-grid companies—and what it takes to be successful
Interview with Andrew Reicher Angel investor in off-grid energy companies Location: UK and across rural Africa “I do not measure impact. I know it when I see it”. For more than a decade, Andrew Reicher worked for large financial firms aiming to encourage economic development in some of the world’s poorest corners. Again and again, …
One angel investor on launching 10 off-grid companies—and what it takes to be successful Read More »
WR27: Smart Villages in India – State level insights
The discussions in both state-level workshops in India discussed in this report revealed that the biggest gains from an integrated sustainability solution for the smart city-smart village linkage would be to address the challenge of youth unemployment in both rural and informal urban communities. The introduction of disruptive technologies that generate the opportunity for rural youth to learn new skills—installing and maintaining rural …
WR27: Smart Villages in India – State level insights Read More »
“Jikokoa”: Scaling up clean cookstoves and providing local jobs
Interview with Boston Nyer BURN General Manager, Kenya Location: Kenya “The next step is to get more sustainable fuels into people’s homes”. “The whole impetus is to save trees,” explains Boston Nyer, BURN’s general manager in Kenya. In East Africa, 60% of deforestation is driven by the need for wood and charcoal for cooking. “Our …
“Jikokoa”: Scaling up clean cookstoves and providing local jobs Read More »
d.light founder: Solar can leapfrog the grid for people living at the “bottom of the pyramid”
Interview with Ned Tozun Co-founder, d.light, a for-profit social enterprise based in China, India, East Africa, and the USA Location: Nairobi, Kenya “Now that the technology has evolved, we want to provide more holistic energy solutions”. After studying and working in engineering, Tozun knew he was “wired” for entrepreneurship. He started “a couple of companies” …
Regional Workshop: Sustainable energy sources for rural development and climatic resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico
The Smart Villages Initiative and the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic jointly held an international workshop on the role of renewable energy for rural development and for enhancing the climatic resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. The event took place from 16 to 18 November in Punta Cana, …
Mlinda’s pico-grids in India: Powering productive uses at the right price
Interview with Vijay Bhaskar Country Director, Mlinda Location: India “We pitched our tariff as an alternative to fossil fuels, and they’re willing to pay our tariff and make sure they’re consuming responsibly”. Mlinda’s first project to bring renewable energy to the Sunderbans, in West Bengal, didn’t go as well as hoped. The organisation wanted to …
Mlinda’s pico-grids in India: Powering productive uses at the right price Read More »
Thwarting thieves: Solar Turtle keeps solar panels safe & secure
Interview with James van der Walt, Founder, Solar Turtle Location: Stellenbosch, South Africa “Step one is having the courage”. James van der Walt was working as a mechanical engineer in Ireland in 2009, when the economic crisis hit. “It was atrocious, everyone was going on the dole,” he remembers. He was taking a ferry to …
Thwarting thieves: Solar Turtle keeps solar panels safe & secure Read More »
Final Programme
Download the final programme
Disruptive technology for rural villages: The case of Sure Chill solar refrigerators
Interview with Ian Tansley Chief Technical Officer, Sure Chill, a Cardiff-based tech company Location: UK “The single biggest challenge we have is people grasping the scale of what we can do: reaching billions” Tansley has spent over thirty years working in Africa, in Nigeria in particular. Remote solar-powered systems were failing; for example, conventional refrigerators …
Disruptive technology for rural villages: The case of Sure Chill solar refrigerators Read More »
Smart Villages launches the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa
Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa. Building on the success of annual East African competitions in collaboration with the Cambridge Development Initiative, this inaugural West African competition challenges entrepreneurs to tell us how they want to grow their existing businesses. Winners will work with consultant …
Smart Villages launches the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa Read More »
West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge 2017
The West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge took place in early 2017. Twenty-nine established off-grid energy companies applied to the competition by describing how they wanted to grow their existing off-grid energy businesses. Over a period of four months, five finalist companies worked with consultant mentors through Cambridge Bridges for Enterprise (link to https://www.bridgesforenterprise.com/) to analyse and refine their …
[:en]Scaling up gender: Women in off-grid energy business models and supply chains[:]
[:en]Please join our webinar on October 13th 2016 at 12 noon UK: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2397829628857963521
[:]