About

Project Overview:

This blog will document the creation and deployment of a solar powered micro-grid in rural Uganda. The project began prototyping at Duke Universities laboratories in March 2013 and deployment in Uganda began in May 2013. The node will use solar power to charge mobile phones, provide house lighting and run small computers for internet access. A 12 V deep cycle battery will also be included for night time use. The deployment locations was in an un-electrified village called Malembo (on Lake Victoria) and Lwemodde,, where the youth group is based. At this current time Lwemodde uses their 100 W solar panel to power their shop and some nearby houses when the grid power goes out. This invariably happens a few times per week. Malembo has no grid and so they used their 200 W worth of solar panels every day.

These sites are both near Masaka where the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) has a cell. They are the group that set us up with a community to live in and test the implementation of this technology. This project is being led by Lydia Thurman and Julian Borrey, two undergraduate students at Duke University in North Carolina.

This project aims to not only provide electricity to underdeveloped areas but also serve as a basis for future projects. As much detail as possible about this project will appear in posts on this blog to allow others pursuing similar projects to have the experience that we will have. We hope that others will be able to use this knowledge and develop even better methods of supplying electricity for utilities. Not only the technical engineering aspects will be documented but the extremely important element of how the community accepts and values the technology will be closely described. In a way, one could view this as open sourcing the challenge of rural electricity distribution.  In order to see all blog posts that focus on deployment, or all of those which focus on the technology, there is a bar on the homepage that will allow you to view all blog posts on either of those topics.

Location:

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About the Creators:

Julian Borrey

Julian is from Sydney, Australia and is studying electrical engineering. He has constantly been interested in technology and its application to improving people's standards of living. Julian loves to travel and thought that this project would be an interesting adventure of both engineering and exploring a new culture.

E-mail: julianborrey@gmail.com










Lydia Thurman:

Lydia is a Duke sophomore studying physics and Arabic.  She is fascinated with the intersection of technology and policy, and is particularly interested in energy policy.  She's excited for a summer of new experiences and first-hand work with the basics of access to electricity and its social implications.

Email: thurmanl10@gmail.com









SPECIAL THANKS TO:
The Kigozi family and the Nantume family for hosting us in Kalisizo,
The Rakai Project for the kindness, interest, and help of their many and talented employees,
The Foundation for Sustainable Development,
Julian Ilett for designing a wonderful solar charge controller,
The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program for funding our trip and work,
The Lwemode Youth Center for being such awesome people work with,
Font Image Generator at http://www.dingbatty.com/ for our title design.