Unlocking the Potential of Solar Heating and Cooling in Kenya

尽管非洲拥有丰富的太阳能资源，但太阳能供暖的潜力仍未得到充分开发。这主要是因为目前将太阳光转化为热能的太阳能热解决办法主要是为工业化经济体（例如欧洲）的需要而开发的。在这个项目中，SolarisKit（英国）将与Solflare（肯尼亚）合作开发一种新的低成本太阳能热解决方案，与现有的解决方案相比，它有几个独特的不同之处，包括：棱镜形太阳能集热器，制造扁平包装降低制造和运输相关成本*一个太阳能泵控制器运行的12VDC，可以提供太阳能加热和冷却*一个完整的太阳能热解决方案，可以安全可靠地安装与低成本的塑料管道独特的扁平包装，自组装太阳能集热器已经开发，测试，专利，现在由SolarisKit（英国）制造。它有可能扰乱非洲太阳能热市场。在这个项目中，肯尼亚市场的重点是由于住宅和商业应用的太阳能热水系统的显着增长预测。除了限制太阳能供暖系统在肯尼亚普及的技术挑战之外，该项目还将实施一项战略设计和有针对性的营销和宣传活动，向主要渠道合作伙伴宣传太阳能供暖的独特优势以及该项目开发的解决方案。我们的目标是通过英国太阳能创新技术打入肯尼亚太阳能热市场，降低成本，简化安装，同时支持教育和宣传活动。结果将包括：1。开发一种新的12VDC太阳能控制器，具有加热和冷却功能，适用于开网和离网应用2。在肯尼亚安装用于数据收集和营销的试点系统。与肯尼亚合作伙伴一起供应硬件以打入市场。与目标渠道合作伙伴完成为期6个月（至少）的营销和宣传活动，以提高对太阳能加热和该项目开发的独特解决方案的认识。

The potential of solar heating is vastly untapped in Africa, despite its abundant solar resource. This is chiefly because current solar thermal solutions, where sunlight is converted into heat, have been primarily developed for the needs of industrialised economies (e.g. Europe). In this project SolarisKit (UK) will partner with Solflare (Kenya) to develop a new low-cost solar thermal solution with several unique differences when compared with incumbent solutions, including:* A new, prismastic shaped solar thermal collector that is manufactured flat-packed reducing both manufacturing and shipping related costs* A solar pump controller which operates off 12VDC which can provide both solar heating and cooling* A complete solar thermal solution which can be installed safely and reliably with lower cost plastic pipingThe unique flat-packed, self-assembled solar thermal collector has been developed, tested, patented and now manufactured by SolarisKit (UK). It has the potential to disrupt the African solar thermal market. In this project, the Kenyan market is focused upon due to the significant growth forecast in solar hot water systems for both residential and commercial applications. In addition to the technical challenges which has limited the penetration of solar heating systems in Kenya, this project will also implement a strategically designed and targeted marketing and awareness campaign to educate key channel partners on the unique benefits of solar heating and the solution developed in this project. Our aim to penetrate the Kenyan solar thermal market with British solar innovation which reduces cost and simplifies installation while also support education and awareness activities. Outcomes will include:1. Development of a new 12VDC solar controller with heating and cooling, suitable for both ON and OFF grid applications2. Installation of pilot systems in Kenya for data gathering and marketing3. Supply of hardware with Kenyan partner to penetrate market4. Completion of a 6-month (minimum) marketing and awareness campaign with targeted channel partners to raise awareness of solar heating and the unique solution developed in this project.