Nov 06 2020
Solar panel systems can be expensive and time-consuming to build. They can require specialist knowledge to set up, and be difficult to maintain. In rural communities, it can make a huge difference if a solar panel system can be made simply and at a lower cost. That’s why Smart Villages is always on the lookout …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/bucket-mounted-solar-systems/
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Mar 02 2020
One thing that the Smart Villages model is based on is the notion of “appropriate technology” – that is the use of technologies that are specified and optimised based on their context and utility, rather than their absolute efficiency or performance. The classic example is the use of, say, an off-the-shelf lead acid battery instead …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/innovation-africa-style/
Jan 07 2020
So let’s start by stepping back a little. Our innovative partners, OMASI, have set up a number of different productive, social and community projects on their main site in the village of Terat in the Simanjiro District of Tanzania. There’s a shop, a community meeting hall, and a hostel (originally set up as somewhere for …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/unbalanced-3-phase-power-nearly-killed-the-radio/
Dec 13 2019
We were delighted to find that one of the many amazing things about working in the Maasai Plains of Simanjiro District, south of Arusha, is the indigenous baobab trees. The baobab, Adansonia digitata, is native to Africa, and classes as one of the biggest trees in the world. Whilst they “only” reach 25-30m in height, …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/welcome-to-big-tree-country/
Nov 20 2019
For the Maasai, the traditional living unit is the boma. This is an extended, or multi-family compound surrounded by a thorn hedge (usually), which will contain between 3 and 10 houses. There is an inner circular compound, also surrounded by a thorn hedge, to keep the livestock safe during the night. Satellite photos of the …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/solar-boma-systems-should-be-a-thing/
Oct 27 2017
[:en] Vidya Sagar Devabhaktuni, President, SKG Sangha Location: Bangalore, India “Human beings are divided, but their basic problems are all the same” Having provided biogas solutions to over 10,000 villages since the mid-80s, Vidya Sagar Devabhaktuni has explored remote areas all over the world. For the president of SKG Sangha, exploring local cultures and …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-vidya-sagar-devabhaktuni-skg-sangha/
Oct 15 2017
[:en] Saddek Fenardji, General Secretary, Canopy Location: Paris, France “The biggest challenge is getting paid” Saddek Fenardji remembers a local mayor’s surprise at how off-grid energy shaped Akonolinga, a town 70 kilometres away from the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé. “We built 250 street lights in a city of 20,000 inhabitants, which was otherwise totally in the …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-saddek-fenardji-canopy/
Oct 15 2017
[:en] Sergina Loncle, Communications Manager, Kopernik Location: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia “The supply chain in Indonesia is a real challenge” On one of Indonesia’s 18,000 islands, Adonara in East Nusa Tenggara, crops such as copra – dried coconut flesh – are sold raw and unprocessed. Copra is usually left strewn on the ground, to dry in …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/sergina-loncle-kopernik/
Oct 15 2017
[:en] Nico Tyabji, Director of Strategic Partnerships, SunFunder Location: US, East Africa “As a financial intermediary for the off-grid solar sector, we’ve grown alongside companies” Since it launched as a specialist debt financier for the off-grid solar sector in 2012, SunFunder has improved energy access for 2.9 million people. Co-founders Ryan Levinson and Audrey Desiderato …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-nico-tyabji-sunfunder/
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Oct 15 2017
[:en] Carlo Figa Talamanca, Chief Executive, Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise Location: Phnomh Penh, Cambodia “We compete on industrialising the clean charcoal process” The other day, there was a fistfight on the factory floor. More worryingly, an employee’s child did not turn up at school. This is directly the responsibility of Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/carlo-figa-talamanca-sustainable-green-fuel-enterprise/
Oct 15 2017
David Achi, Director, AD Solar Entreprise Location: Abidjan, Ivory Coast “Ivorians can now access life” Running a business in Ivory Coast is not easy, much less a solar company. David Achi trained over 1,000 technicians via a company he created in Reims – “the capital of champagne!” – in 2010. Achi also taught engineering at …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-david-achi-ad-solar-entreprise/
Oct 15 2017
[:en] Shyam Patra, Founder and Director at Naturetech Infrastructure “We are ensuring that electricity is available and all the basic services are available. We don’t provide the electricity and then wait for the rest to happen.” The first time Shyam Patra visited India’s rural north, he was working for a traditional energy company and …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-shyam-patra-naturetech-infrastructure/
Oct 15 2017
[:en] Segun Adaju, CEO at Consistent Energy Limited “I think Nigeria has the biggest market for this kind of business in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.” To get a sense of Nigeria’s problems in the energy sector, it helps to know that more 60 million people in the country have their own gas-powered generators. In …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-segun-adaju-consistent-energy-limited/
Oct 14 2017
[:en] Mawuli Tse, Director, Solar Light Africa Location: Accra, Ghana “Good technology migrates by itself” In the early nineties, Mawuli Tse spent time in Cape Verde, as part of a group working to install 5,000 photovoltaic systems in homes on the archipelago. “They were so progressive,” he says. “My thought was, if Cape Verde was …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-mawuli-tse-solar-light-africa/
Oct 14 2017
[:en] Richard Fahey, CEO, Liberian Energy Network (LEN) Location: Liberia “We give Liberians, be they fishermen or child soldiers, a powerful tool to do their job better” When a shipment of solar lights disappeared at the port of Hamburg en route from China, only to turn up three months later, every single battery dead. It …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-richard-fahey-liberian-energy-network-len/
Oct 14 2017
[:en] Jeroen Verschelling, Chairman and Co-founder, Kamworks Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia “It’s hard to go faster than the market” Jeroen Verschelling first designed his zero-energy home when he was a consultant for Ecofys, taking notes in the back of a conference room with experts on how to build homes in the tropics. Verschelling spent three …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/interview-jeroen-verschelling-kamworks/