The Madagascan company Jirogasy, which designs and manufactures solar-powered computers, has just signed a partnership with Aceleron, a supplier of batteries made from the waste of solar lanterns and lithium-ion batteries. The two companies aim to equip rural schools in East Africa with solar-powered computers. How to improve digital access in schools and rural areas […]
Decentralised solar powered systems quietly ramping up across Africa
Integrated electricity company EDF has become a shareholder in next-generation utility Bboxx Kenya. Together the two companies aim to provide access to clean, reliable, affordable, CO2 free energy to more than two million Kenyans with solar home systems by 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, EDF takes a 23% stake in Bboxx Kenya. In […]
Innovator Takes Rural India And Africa “Mini” With New Grid Technology
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India is “one of the largest electrification success stories in history”, accounting for two of every five people newly electrified since 2000. The proportion of India’s population with access to electricity grew from 68% in 2010 to over 99% in 2019. But the reality on the ground is […]
Solar fridges to chill COVID-19 shots in rural Africa
Solar-powered refrigerators could be a game-changer in Africa’s fight against COVID-19 by helping the continent to store and distribute vaccines, especially in rural and remote areas with no connection to electricity, experts say. As the world prepares and rolls out mass vaccinations against COVID-19, experts from the Global Environment Facility-funded Sure Chill vaccine storage project […]
RETTI Launches Online Courses on Solar
Investment in the solar sector hit a peak of $330 billion in 2015. This was expected as climate change impacts continue to ravage communities due to the use of fossil fuels for electricity. This adds to the increase of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere enhancing the dangerous climate change. Solar power […]
Study finds potential for colocating floating solar with hydropower in Africa
Hydropower plants across Africa could double their capacity if just 1% of their reservoirs are used to install floating solar projects, new research suggests. The large-scale roll-out of floating solar at hydropower reservoirs in the continent could reduce water evaporation, help to satisfy future energy needs and increase resilience to climate change without redesigning existing […]
Power roll: bringing cheap solar power to Africa and India
Supported by Innovate UK, Power Roll is developing, testing, and implementing lightweight, low-cost, flexible solar mini grid systems in India and Africa Power Roll has installed two mini solar grid systems in rural locations in Africa and India. These grids demonstrate the use of their innovative solar film and energy storage technologies that have the potential […]
AFRICA: AREP’s investment will enable the expansion of energy company Sola
African Rainbow Energy and Power (AREP) acquires 40% of Sola Group, a solar energy provider based in Cape Town, South Africa. Through this investment by AREP, Sola Group will expand its activities in Southern Africa. African Rainbow Energy and Power (AREP) is now the majority shareholder in Sola Group, a solar energy provider that focuses […]
A crowd-powered solar future for Africa
The Sun Exchange founder and CEO, Abe Cambridge, early on became painfully aware that climate change presents an alarmingly imminent threat to humanity. Cambridge also realised that the solution is to transition the world away from fossil fuels and towards solar power, the most deployable, affordable and accessible type of renewable energy. Working as a […]
Africa to see a huge renewable energy boom driven by Egypt and Algeria
Africa’s installed capacity of renewable energy, which stood at 12.6 gigawatt (GW) in 2019, is set for consecutive years of growth, a Rystad Energy analysis shows The continent’s capacity is forecast to reach 16.8 GW in 2020, add another 5.5 GW in 2021, and further climb to 51.2 GW in 2025, led by growth in […]