SolaFin2Go (Solar Finance 2 Go)

580ae9bb-ef58-43bb-9311-6bbe0553045b

Closed

EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC

£682,685

March 31, 2018

March 31, 2019

More than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without access to electricity and 90% of the population directly burn solid fuel for cooking, boiling water, lighting and heating. Significant issues exist in the continued lack of access to proper energy supply giving rise to detrimental socio-economic conditions, poor health and well being and local/global environmental concerns, exacerbated by population growth and urbanisation.

The SolaFin2Go project will address the challenge of providing standalone solar systems to make available cost effective and affordable access to electricity and thermal hot water for off-grid households in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective is to test the feasibility of 'entry level' technological solutions combining novel PV and solar thermal technologies financed through improved business PAYG models (enabled by the innovative FinTech platform through Mobile, Cloud and Blockchain technologies) that fit with household/community circumstances to provide basic electrification and hot water. Combining the partner technologies, resources and knowledge in this study has the potential to create a viable, cost effective off grid standalone solar solution to meet many of the challenges identified by the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative and directly relates to the Botswana Off Grid Plan and Energy Efficiencies plan. This unique project combines traditional PV systems with battery storage and solar thermal technologies packaged together under an energy, payment and customer management platform that has customer relationship at the heart of the finance model and also has significant potential to add to economic momentum in rural communities and to Transform Energy Access (TEA) for all.

Ulster University and SolaForm Ltd (a Northern Ireland start up spinout with an innovative near-market solar thermal product offering) have teamed up with dpSun/KRD Global Ltd (Poland/UK based PV Company with experience in microgrids) to combine their expertise to develop unique technology driven solar home solution/s for the Botswana market. EmPowered (Pty) Botswana has many years of experience in the Botswana energy and business markets. EmPowered (Pty) Botswana (Fintech solution provider) is supported by Stanbic Bank (as part of the EU WiSE Projects submission) and Barclays Bank. Combining the technologies, resources and knowledge of the partners in this study has the potential to create a viable, cost effective off grid standalone solar solution.

Potential Impact:
The SolaFin2Go project will address the challenge of providing standalone solar systems for available cost effective and affordable access to electricity and hot water for off-grid households in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective is to test the feasibility of 'entry level' technological solutions combining PV, solar thermal (with storage and control) financed through improved business PAYG models (enabled by the innovative FinTech platform through Mobile, Cloud and Blockchain technologies) that fit with household and community circumstances.

This project will bring together UK and African academics and industry partners to undertake R&D of the SolaFin2Go system, which will address the 3 fundamental elements of the energy trilemma: cost, emissions and security of supply in SADC countries. The deployment of the system in a typical traditional dwelling in rural Botswana will permit monitoring of the performance of SolaFin2Go on a targeted end user and serve as a realistic, in-situ example for many local community stakeholders to see the applicability of the system for distributed communities in SADC countries. The partners will seek to maximise the impact of this research with the academic community, government and industry, including working with local SMEs that can produce the various services and components using locally available materials and resource. This will build local capacity and go a long way in ensuring the economic sustainability of SolaFin2Go. The benefits the project will accrue to energy professionals, manufacturers, installation contractors and utility companies. The project will have a direct impact on the following beneficiaries

Academia: The system will further the scientific understanding of thermal 'diodicity' and PV module/laminate fabrication techniques. This work will be of interest to those working in solar heat transfer, PCMs and vacuum technologies, PV fabrication and operation/storage. The FinTech platform will be of interest to those working in energy finance and management, telecommunications, IT, big data and storage. The wider socio-context to the work will be of interest to many involved in the social implications of energy access and financial empowerment in rural/peri-rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The project will enrich existing knowledge/understanding of the technologies through the cross-disciplinary collaboration, facilitating knowledge transfer between the UK and African partners.

Industry: Various industrial sectors, in the UK and Africa could benefit from this research; they include SMEs' with interests in solar technologies and energy-finance management. They will be actively sought out, invited to examine material produced in the project dissemination activities.

Policy Makers: This project will demonstrate the potential for independent solar technologies combined with an innovative energy, payment and customer management platform for harnessing and supplying solar energy locally as well as the economic and environmental benefits of utilising the abundant solar resource. This improved understanding will be highly beneficial to policy makers. The consortium will highlight the benefits and findings of this study to policymakers in the UK and Africa through dissemination activities.

Society: SolaFin2Go will reduce the use of fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions It will support financing and empowerment of the 'unbankable'. Local community structures will develop through accelerating the transition to modern energy services in remote and rural areas, while also offering the co-benefits of healthy living, improvement of living standards, contributing to climate change, as well as positive effects on income growth and distributive equity in communities. The project will also enhance the electrification of communities which will improve communications and facilitate greater quality and availability of education.