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极大的开发。这主要是因为目前将阳光转化为热量的太阳能热解决方案主要是为工业化经济体(如欧洲)的需求而开发的。在该项目中，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，与现有解决方案相比，它具有几个独特的不同之处，包括：*一种新型的棱镜形状太阳能集热器，它采用平板包装制造，降低了制造和运输相关成本*一种太阳能泵控制器，其工作电压为12VDC，可提供太阳能供暖和制冷*一套完整的太阳能热解决方案，可以安全可靠地安装在成本更低的塑料管上*SolarisKit(英国)已经开发、测试和申请了专利，目前正在制造这种独特的平板包装自组装太阳能热水器。它有可能扰乱非洲的太阳能热能市场。在这个项目中，由于住宅和商业用太阳能热水系统的显著增长预测，肯尼亚市场受到了关注。除了限制太阳能供暖系统在肯尼亚普及的技术挑战外，该项目还将实施战略性设计和有针对性的营销和宣传活动，教育主要渠道合作伙伴太阳能供暖的独特好处和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渗透肯尼亚太阳能热能市场，降低成本，简化安装，同时支持教育和提高认识活动。成果将包括：1.开发一种新的12VDC太阳能控制器，具有加热和制冷功能，适用于电网上和电网下的应用2。在肯尼亚安装数据收集和销售试点系统3.与肯尼亚合作伙伴提供硬件以打入市场。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，以提高对太阳能供暖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.