ICTworks by Inveneo

Electrical power is an issue across Africa - or more accurately, the lack of reliable, affordable electricity is one of the greatest barriers to the adoption of information and communication technologies.

But good businessmen look at barriers and see opportunity. If rural areas lack a reliable national power grid, then develop solutions that do not need that electrical infrastructure and capture market share from technology vendors still waiting for KPLC or NEPA.

Solar Power Computing

Instead of looking to government, look to the sun for electrical power and high-efficiency ICT solutions to use that electricity cost-effectively. You can even use this sample solar power computing setup:

1. Deploy eight 90W solar panels, three 200Ah deep cycle batteries, two 30A charge controllers using the Inveneo power configuration model.
2. The solar panels convert sunlight into energy, which is stored in the batteries through the charge controllers. The solar power system is designed to require an average of five hours of sunshine to fully charge the batteries.
3. Install ten Inveneo High-Performance Computing Stations, one Inveneo R4 server, a wireless LAN hub, and 7W DC lamps. At full charge, the batteries can run the ten computing stations and server for up to ten hours.

Winning Government Contracts

Now that sample setup is nice and all, but your real question is, "Who would buy solar power computing?" And for that I have a good answer and great example.

The Computers for Schools programme in Uganda is an effort by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to establish functional computer laboratories with modern equipment in selected schools.

In August 2009, the UCC held a competitive bidding process for a contract to supply computer labs to 52 schools. These schools are all located in regions with limited or non-existent electricity supply, so the computers must rely on solar power.

CLS, a Certified Inveneo ICT Partner, bid and won the competitive tender for 52 ICT centers by offering the best value for the UCC - deploying Inveneo High-Performance Computing Stations and the solar power to operate them using the solution described above. This March, CLS completed the installation of all 52 labs ahead of schedule.

The CLS contract is just one of many government tenders won when IT companies realize the benefits of solar power computing done right. Isn't it about time you did the same?

At the Africa Energy Awards 2010, the Barefoot Solar Engineers of Malawi won the Best Rural Electrification Project category, highlighting their positive impact on rural communities.

But they don't need a fancy award ceremony in South Africa to confirm their life-changing program that starts with a short training at the Barefoot College in India. Just watch this video:

As Clement Nyirenda explains, they are improving living conditions in many ways already:

The installation of solar electricity in these households has contributed greatly to the improvement of people’s livelihoods. The day for most of these households no longer ends at dusk, but like all of us privileged to have electricity, they now have a choice. School-going children are now able to study and do their homework even at night.

Availability of solar electricity has also enabled the households to save money, which they used to spend on buying other sources of lighting e.g. paraffin, candles. The money thus saved will go a long way in enabling the households to access the various other important needs for their households.

The fact that women, who used to be ordinary mothers in the village, are in the forefront of changing their communities shows that gender dynamics have changed in the villages.This will be a source of inspiration for many young Malawian women who are engaging in career paths that traditionally associated with men.

We've highlighted the Barefoot Solar Engineer program before. I can only hope it expands across Malawi and other countries in Africa too.

Solar energy provides a clean, sustainable, and reliable electrical source. Yet solar power is expensive and in the developing world, buyers often do not have the ability to purchase these systems. So they buy dirty, unreliable, but cheap petrol and diesel generators instead.

Looking for a new solar power

The Solar for All initiative wants to revolutionize this situation by creating systemic change in the entire solar PV value chain and related financial services so solar energy can be affordable to the 1.6 billion people without access to electricity. They'll achieve that change with three interlocking efforts:

1. $250,000 for New Solar Power Designs
Solar For All is sponsoring a design contest for manufacturers and PV system integrators to develop a "perfectly" designed and adapted solar PV system for rural electrification. The winner receiving a $250,000 investment by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

2. $100 Million for Solar Investments & Financing
The Solar for All investment fund will support the entire solar ecosystem - raw material supply to the production of wafers, PV cells, solar panels, and other components - to make solar energy systems and low energy appliances available and affordable to lower income communities. It also will have financing for social enterprise distributors and end users.

3. Solar Industry Capacity Building
Solar for All is not stopping at chaining the solar power equipment or its financing, they also want to aggregate off-grid PV distributors to create a unified voice for them in industry, government and international development organizations.

Apply to Win Today!

The "Solar for All" contest is now open. "Solar for All" is looking for organizations that demonstrate either:

1. Innovative PV off-grid power supply solutions for low-income end-users in developing countries. These may be solar home systems, mini-grids, hybrid solutions or PV systems with special applications as long as they produce AC or DC power and are focused on end-users.
2. Market-based approaches with business plans, market penetration strategies, or end-user financing - applicants may focus on one or on several of these aspects.

Apply today and good luck improving PV systems and the financing schemes to purchase them.

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At this year's Development Marketplace 2009 (DM2009) finalist event at the World Bank, I was asked a challenging question: What's the impact of ICT on climate change?

Of course, information and communication technologies help people learn about climate change and share ideas and responses, but ICT actually has a greater, and more direct impact than you might imagine. According to Gartner:

The global information and communications technology (ICT) industry accounts for approximately 2 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a figure equivalent to aviation, according to a new estimate by Gartner, Inc. Despite the overall environmental value of IT, Gartner believes this is unsustainable.

We at Inveneo agree - the developing world cannot continue to rely on dirty and expensive fossil fueled gasoline and diesel generators for the electrical power to run communication equipment.

Wayan Vota's DM2009 interview

That's why I answered the question like this:

@Inveneo's climate change impact: reducing reliance on diesel generators w/ energy efficient computing & access to green knowledge

How do we do that? By certifying and deploying energy efficient computers that are specifically designed to operate on renewable energies like wind and solar power. That's also why we certify Power Partners in addition to ICT Partners - clean electricity is just as important as the information it facilitates.

So the next time you are thinking about ICT deployment, especially in a rural or undeserved area where electrical power is an issue, remember that you do have a choice. You can reduce the impact of climate change directly and immediately, even before the community develops an awareness of global warming. When you choose renewable energy sources, not fossil fuels, to power your knowledge sharing ICTs.

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Buying solar power equipment for Africa is often a challenge. First, the USA runs on 110V, so most of the equipment here will not work with the 220V standard common to African electrical systems. Then, shipping to you, then to Africa often vastly increases costs. Last but not least, is the long reach of 419.

If you are trying to buy the Xantrex TR Series 1524-230-50 Inverter/Charger, a very common inverter for solar power deployments, you'll find few companies willing to ship overnight. Most require a day's wait between payment and shipment. Why?

The Long Reach of 419

The Xantrex TR1524 is often the target of online scams. Fake or stolen credit cards are used to buy it for overnight shipment, getting it delivered before the credit card companies or solar equipment distributors can stop delivery.

In fact, several dealers I called recently said that the 1524-230-50 model is the most common target of such thieves. To the point that any request for it raises alarms.

Yet another example of how honest commerce is degraded by 419 scams.