Energy access

Pay-N-Pump 2.0 – adding storage to mobile solar irrigation systems

SVRG is carrying this InnovateUK Energy catalyst round 9 project out together with our Ugandan partners, ApTech Africa ltd, to build on the success of our original ECR7 Pay-N-Pump innovation project. Project Overview PAY-N-PUMP is an innovative smart digital pay-as-you-go water-pumping and irrigation solution for small scale farmers in Uganda, built in a push-cart format, …

Pay-N-Pump 2.0 – adding storage to mobile solar irrigation systems Read More »

Mobile Minigrids for Rapid Rural Energy Access

The Challenge Rural communities in the developing world often require access to high-power equipment, such as for flour milling or welding, but to run these services can require power at the minigrid-scale of more than 10kW. When this equipment is not running, the baseline demand for power is extremely low (a typical solar home system …

Mobile Minigrids for Rapid Rural Energy Access Read More »

Off-grid energy reporting technology (Completed)

The project aimed to develop a product which could: 1. Report on an entire solar system (AC currents, AC voltages, DC currents, and DC voltages), independent of the equipment manufacturer. 2. Divert excess energy directly from the solar panels to an auxiliary load, using historic data and AI algorithms to determine when there is sufficient …

Off-grid energy reporting technology (Completed) Read More »

Off-grid multi-energy reporting system and AI load controller

SVRG are carrying out this 3 month project with funding from InnovateUK, the UK’s Innovation Agency. Most of our community development solutions have been powered by clean offgrid solar electricity. Monitoring and controlling these systems can be challenging, as every equipment manufacturer tends to have their own bespoke monitoring and data collection system. This presents …

Off-grid multi-energy reporting system and AI load controller Read More »

The InnovateUK Energy Catalyst and working with SVRG partners

Recently, we were invited to give a presentation by our colleagues at the UK Low Carbon Energy for Development Network (UK LCEDN), as part of a webinar they were running on “Transforming Energy Access” for organisations who were interested in applying for the latest Innovate UK Energy Catalyst (round 8) competition, closing in September 2020. …

The InnovateUK Energy Catalyst and working with SVRG partners Read More »

What we mean by Community Engagement – the SVRG way of working.

Recently our project partners in Lesotho, the Energy Research Centre at the National University of Lesotho, asked us to contribute to a week-long Masters’ students event on rural energy access. Because of COVID, we were sadly unable to make it in person, but delivered the presentations via Webex instead. Here is the contribution from Dr …

What we mean by Community Engagement – the SVRG way of working. Read More »

Webinar: Crowd Power – Crowdfunding Energy Access Ventures

[:en]https://youtu.be/qMftQkAWcI8 If you are a start-up or a smaller energy access firm looking to raise funds, then energy-targeted crowdfunding may just be for you. Raising the necessary finance for start-up and scale-up energy access ventures on terms that make commercial sense is one of the biggest challenges in the sector. In the search for appropriate …

Webinar: Crowd Power – Crowdfunding Energy Access Ventures Read More »

Raghu Chandrasekaran, E-Hands Energy – rural energy entrepreneur

[:en] Raghuraman (Raghu) Chandrasekaran, Founder E-Hands Energy Location: Chennai, India “Who cares for the poor anyway?” Along the Himalayan border of India, site of the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict, lie rural villages which Raghuraman Chandrasekaran has ventured into many times. The founder of E-Hands Energy, which brings hybrid solar and wind energy to rural Indian …

Raghu Chandrasekaran, E-Hands Energy – rural energy entrepreneur Read More »

WR35: Energy access in Nicaragua: the nexus between financial mechanisms and energy policies

The Smart Villages Initiative, jointly with the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua (ACN) and the University of Central America (UCA), organised a national workshop in Matagalpa, Nicaragua on 27-28 April 2017 in order to explore the major challenges to, and opportunities for, achieving electricity access for rural and isolated communities to support productive processes and …

WR35: Energy access in Nicaragua: the nexus between financial mechanisms and energy policies Read More »

BR27: Energy access in Nicaragua – financial mechanisms and energy policies

Nicaragua’s energy sector is facing one of the most important challenges of its history in terms energy infrastructure development and electricity access. As a result of substantial investments in grid extension and strengthening of distribution and transmission systems, official figures indicate that electrification rates increased from 47 percent in 2002 to 80 percent in 2014. …

BR27: Energy access in Nicaragua – financial mechanisms and energy policies Read More »

Bottom-up inclusive approach and more evidence of productive uses crucial for smart village success in South and Southeast Asia, concludes final workshop

Integrated ministerial strategy and micro-grid financing are other key issues identified by first global study of rural off-grid communities Bangkok: Delegates to the Smart Villages Initiative Closing Workshop for South and Southeast Asia in Bangkok March 7-9 agreed that a bottom-up approach involving villagers themselves is essential to catalyse energy access and spread its resultant …

Bottom-up inclusive approach and more evidence of productive uses crucial for smart village success in South and Southeast Asia, concludes final workshop Read More »

BR24: Rural Energy Access Planning in Togo – Policy Brief

As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline for achieving the targets of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop …

BR24: Rural Energy Access Planning in Togo – Policy Brief Read More »

November webinar: Going off the grid: Disaster, resilience, and off-grid energy

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, and …

November webinar: Going off the grid: Disaster, resilience, and off-grid energy Read More »

WR31: Sustainable energy resources for risk management and resilience of communities in Latin America and the Caribbean

Leading experts from across Latin America and the Caribbean were brought together for a work-shop in Quito, Ecuador, on 30 January 2017 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of building resilience to natural disasters of villages in the region, with a particular concern for the contribution of energy services. Key points made in the presentations …

WR31: Sustainable energy resources for risk management and resilience of communities in Latin America and the Caribbean Read More »

WR23: South America Dialogue for media professionals

A major objective of the Smart Villages Initiative is to raise public awareness of rural energy  access issues, sustainable energy technologies, and entrepreneurial approaches to energy in the developing world. In line with this objective, the Smart Villages Initiative, in partnership with the Green Building Council of Paraguay, held an international media dialogue for media professionals in Asuncion, Paraguay, …

WR23: South America Dialogue for media professionals Read More »

Energy and ICT for educational inclusion in Latin America

Although Latin America has experienced a successful decade of reduction in poverty and inequality, it continues to be the most unequal region in the world1. The persistence of high levels of social injustice is not accidental: its profound structural causes are rooted in unfair political, economic and social institutional frameworks, which have been shaped throughout …

Energy and ICT for educational inclusion in Latin America Read More »

Scroll to Top