ePowerCart - Affordable Mobile Clean Energy for Remote Communities in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa and India

尽管发展中地区在实现人人享有能源方面取得了进展，但全球仍有6.75亿人无法获得现代能源服务[跟踪可持续发展目标7，能源进展报告，2023年]。数亿人生活在不可靠或昂贵的电力中。在新冠肺炎大流行之后，撒哈拉以南非洲地区在全球无法获得服务的人口中所占比例从74%上升到77%。由于撒哈拉以南非洲只有26%的农村人口在疫情爆发前能用上电，偏远的农村社区仍然缺乏能源供应，面临落后的风险。没有清洁能源的人们依赖生物质和柴油燃料生活，这对他们的健康和环境非常有害。此外，缺乏负担得起的和可靠的能源供应是新兴经济体经济和人类发展的主要障碍。Power Roll Ltd、印度能源和资源研究所（TERI）和非洲随叫随到（OCA）将开发一种移动的能源解决方案，专门为撒哈拉以南非洲和南亚偏远地区服务不足的孤立社区提供清洁、可靠和负担得起的能源供应。我们将与印度和赞比亚的农村社区和组织合作，确保我们的解决方案经过精心设计，考虑最终用户的需求以及对性别平等和社会包容（GESI）的潜在影响。Power Roll Ltd开发了一种独特的、超低成本、超轻重量的光伏（PV）薄膜，该薄膜基于高度创新的微槽结构。我们将把我们的柔性光伏薄膜粘合到弹出式织物拖车帐篷上，并将其与远程管理的能量存储相结合，生产出一种负担得起的、可运输的、弹出式的、随时可用的能源系统“ePowerCart”。我们将设计和制造ePowerCart原型，用于印度和赞比亚的电气/机械性能测试性能和现场试验，包括：* 女子学校/学院，Mukteshwar（印度），为信息技术资源提供动力（改善连通性）和电力照明 * Chalimongela/Kanyanga母亲庇护所（南赞比亚），促进健康/卫生教育推广，疫苗接种方案，和移动的超声单元 * 社区/农业太阳能水泵项目后，最初，Power Roll Ltd将在英国生产ePowerCarts并管理配送。随后，ePowerCart将由当地的国内制造商通过许可模式为供应商生产。成功的项目交付将加速我们的现场试验参与者和其他气候和地形相似的撒哈拉以南非洲/印度偏远社区获得负担得起的可靠清洁能源。这将为最孤立、服务不足和边缘化的社区带来积极的健康、经济和环境影响。

Although progress towards energy access for all is being made in developing regions, 675m people worldwide are still living without access to modern energy services \[Tracking SDG7, The Energy Progress Report, 2023\]. Hundreds of millions more people live with unreliable or expensive electricity. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Sub-Saharan Africa's share of the global population without access rose from 74% to 77%. Since only 26% of SSA's rural population had access to electricity pre-pandemic, remote rural communities continue to lack energy access and are at risk of being left behind.People living without clean energy, depend on biomass and diesel fuels, which are highly detrimental their health and the environment. Moreover, lack of affordable and reliable energy access is a key barrier to economic and human development in emerging economies.Power Roll Ltd, The Energy and Resources Institute, India (TERI) and On Call Africa (OCA), will develop a mobile energy solution, specifically designed bring to clean, reliable and affordable energy access to underserved, isolated communities in remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. We will work with rural communities and organisations in India and Zambia to ensure our solution is carefully designed, considering end-user needs and potential impacts on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI).Power Roll Ltd has developed a unique, ultra-low-cost, ultra-light weight, photovoltaic (PV) thin-film based on highly innovative micro-groove architecture. We will bond our flexible PV film to pop-up fabric trailer-tents, and combine this with remotely managed energy storage to produce an affordable, transportable and pop-up, ready-to-use energy system, 'ePowerCart'.We will design and build ePowerCart prototypes for electrical/mechanical performance testing performance and field trials in India and Zambia including:* Girls' school/college, Mukteshwar (India) powering IT resources (improving connectivity), and electric lighting (extending study time)* Chalimongela/Kanyanga's mothers' shelter (S.Zambia), enabling health/sanitation education outreach, vaccination programmes, and mobile ultrasound unit (improving health and mother/baby mortality rates)* Community/agricultural solar water pumping (displacing water collection)Post-project, initially, Power Roll Ltd will produce ePowerCarts in the UK and manage distribution. Subsequently, ePowerCart will be produced for suppliers by local, in-country manufacturers via a licensing model.Successful project delivery will accelerate affordable, reliable clean energy access for our field trial participants and other remote Sub-Saharan African/Indian communities with similar climates and terrain. This will bring positive health, economic and environmental impacts to the most isolated, underserved and marginalised communities.