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Lighting Africa was launched a decade ago by the World Bank group in search of new technologies to provide up to 250 million people in sub Saharan Africa with access to non-fossil fuel based, low cost, safe and reliable lighting products. Progress in nanotechnology is making this goal a real possibility.
Light is important. From safety to improved healthcare to better educational facilities, the knock-on effects of a good light source can have an impact across a range of social and working environments. Currently in Africa, many do not have access to light or are using candles and kerosene lamps, which can use more energy than they provide.
Lighting is also expensive – accounting for as much as 10-15 per cent of total household income for some. A 2005 report by Professor Peter Singer and colleagues at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, ranked the areas where nanotechnology is likely to have its greatest impact in the developing world.
The study, published in PLoS Medicine, involved the opinions of more than 60 international experts, and found that energy storage and production consistently rated as the most important potential application of nanotechnology in the poorest areas of the world. The Lighting Africa initiative supports research aiming to generate clean, portable, durable, lower cost and higher quality lighting to those without. Annual awards are held to support projects deemed to have the potentials to achieve these goals.
Among the winners this year were UK based G24 Innovations, recognised for their development of a solar powered LED light from “dye-sensitized thin film solar cells”. The company claims the cells are extremely light and durable and easily produced on a mass scale. Dye-sensitized solar cells have been 18 years in the making. Invented by Dr. Michael Graetzel, who heads the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, the cells are designed to mimic nature. Sunlight falls on the cells and is “photosynthesised” in much the same way that plants use sunlight to create energy.
The oxidising abilities of nanoparticles at the centre of the cells are key to this energy conversion and remove the need for silicon, which is the staple component of traditional solar chips. “Silicon, while proven effective in its ability to produce energy from sunlight, comes with a range of problems for mass production,” President of G24i Clemens Betzel says. “It is fragile and difficult to manufacture. It also lacks flexibility, making it more difficult to integrate into new products.
“The Graetzel cell overcomes these problems – it is easy to manufacture on a large scale. Also, the energy used to make each cell is recuperated in less than a year, compared to 3-4 years for silicon solar cells. They can also be screen printed on glass, foil and plastic materials and can be made in different colours or transparent. The possibilities on offer are far greater.”
The Graetzel cell is now being mass produced by G24 Innovations, who have plans to see their solar cells in telephones, computers, air conditioning systems and lighting across the globe, including developing nations.
“Our cells are able to generate electricity in poorly lit conditions and provide the user with a low cost, high quality light when and where they need it. It was this, along with the ability for cost-effective mass production that the Lighting Africa panel liked about our product,” Betzel says.
The company, in collaboration with LED lighting manufacturer Lemnis, were awarded $200,000 to further develop the light and expect to set up large scale distribution in Rwanda in the near future.
The lighting project follows another successful project by the company to fuel mobile phone growth in Africa – solarpowered mobile phone chargers will be the first true mass application of the technology.
Master IT Ltd are planning to pioneer the mobile phone technology in Kenya. The company, initially established to provide financial support to Computers in Schools Kenya has brought computers to nearly 500 Kenyan schools in the past 5 years. Managing Director Tom Musili says, “I see the huge revolution taking place in communications driven by mobile phones, which are an essential tool even for the poorest in society. Most Kenyans do not have access to electricity and we see G24i’s products as a way to bring affordable and convenient power and therefore communication to these people.”
Betzel, says, “Cell phone companies are experiencing unprecedented growth in developing countries, particularly from less affluent people living in smaller towns and villages. In 2000 there were 61 million mobile phone users in the developing world. Today there are an estimated 600 million and by 2015 this is predicted to stand at 2 billion.
“The main barrier to cell phone ownership is not the cost of the handset or calls but the cost of and ability to keep the phone charged. 1.6 billion people still have no access to electricity. Our solar chargers, which are specifically designed for the rugged conditions in developing countries, will help to spread this communications revolution to everyone.
“This technology can be mass produced and is affordable for developing world applications and makes solar power a viable portable energy source in these regions for the first time. Other properties include its light weight, durability, flexibility and ability to produce electricity in low light and cloudy conditions.” “We believe that our technology has the potential to revolutionise personal energy, materially improving the lives of a huge number of people across the globe.”
