GRND Lab

http://www.grndlab.com/

Built solar system developed and installed in southern Kenya to provide power for the new Living with Lions research camp. (see 'work' link)

DIY Solar video kit

http://solarvideokit.wordpress.com/

Tilting at windmills: the boy who harnessed the wind

Malawian teenager William Kamkwamba built a generator out of a bicycle and tractor fan. Now he's lauded by environmentalists. more

Kenyans invent bike phone charger

Two Kenyan university students invent a device that allows bicycle riders to charge their mobile phones. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/8166196.stm

How I built my family a windmill

See William Kamkwamba in an acclaimed TED talk here. Visit the project web site.

Farmer Info Station with mobile Internet and solar power

To make information on improving agriculture accessible for small scale farmers Avallain E4D is refining the "Info Station". It consists of the XO hardware, better known as the "$100 laptop", enhanced with bandwidth-controlled mobile Internet access, solar energy power and a custom software set based on the Ubuntu OS.

more

Renewable energy in Kenya

The United Nations International Development Organisation (Unido) is calling on communities without access to electricity to submit renewable energy production proposals for funding. Details here.

Unido has also created 'energy kiosks,' one of which is on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, though there have been some problems with vandalism. Details here.

Universal Science Bench

Portable teaching tool using solar and wind for powering local experiments. Details here

A bag full of sunshine

Energy: A combination of flexible solar cells and low-energy lighting provides a way to bring electric light to isolated communities

story

See-saw to power African schools

A young inventor is hoping to tap the unbounded energy of children in a playground to power schools in Africa.

story

Electricity in Africa: The dark continent

Few Africans in rural areas have access to electricity. Connecting them to national grids will be slow and expensive. Yet Lilliputian windmills, water mills, solar panels and biomass furnaces could have a big collective impact. The cost of lighting a shack takes 10% of income in the poorest households and the kerosene lamps are highly polluting. In response, the World Bank has rolled out “Lighting Africa”, an ambitious effort to get 250m of the poorest Africans on clean-energy lighting by 2030....

Aggreko, a company based in Scotland, is the world's biggest supplier of temporary electricity in the shape of back-up generators. It meets up to 50% of Uganda's power needs, and 10% of those of Kenya and Tanzania....

Other remedies for Africa's power shortages are more familiar but just as urgent: more efficient appliances, such as LED lighting

Source: Economist

What can you do? Give the gift of light.

bikejus

Bicycle + DC motor + inverter. Details here.

Inveneo

The Computing Station is an ultra-low-power, affordable and fully functional desktop computer designed for use in rural locations such as schools, clinics, field offices, community centers and Internet cafes.

Workshop on Ubiquitous Sustainability: Technologies for Green Values

Workshop in Conjunction with the Ninth International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp 2007)

Solar power links

Free DIY small solar panel & light

Boiling Point household energy journal contains numerous articles on solar (and other low cost power), and on Kenya

Nairobi solar startups:
Kibera Community Youth Project
Fomax

Other end of the spectrum:
PowerFilm - rollable and foldable (and pricey) PV panels
Laptop chargers