Public Funding for Solariskit Ltd

Solar thermal technology, where sunlight is converted into heat is vastly untapped in Africa despite its abundant sunshine and potential to make positive impact. The African continent is currently dependent on the use of traditional biomass fuels like wood and charcoal for heating which has led to devastating levels of deforestation and carbon emissions. This project aims to tackle a number of key barriers which currently exist preventing the wide scale adoption of solar thermal products in Africa helping to realise the following benefits: 1. lower heating related greenhouse gas emissions by lowering dependence on charcoal and wood via the market implementation of a new, lower cost solar thermal collector. 2. Build solar collector manufacturing capacity in Rwanda and Ghana, reducing dependence on imported products while creating local employment and support to build the solar thermal industry, 3. Establish an impactful and scalable business model which supports long term partnership between SolarisKit in the UK and its partners in Africa, focusing on knowledge transfer/sharing and capacity building activities. SolarisKit in the United Kingdom have developed the world's first flat-packed, self-assembled solar thermal collector. A device which can be assembled in approximately 30 minutes without any tools. It can be manufactured locally in Africa with low capital investment to create jobs supporting local economic development, can be easily transported (even by bicycle/motorcycle), and will not reach dangerous temperatures (<80 degrees Celsius) making it ideal for wide scale implementation into the the global south. This project aims to take the successfully demonstrated design developed by SolarisKit and develop both supply and value chains to build the solar industry. This is essential to unlock the vastly untapped potential of solar energy in Africa and other sunbelt regions, benefiting people (lowering energy costs and improving quality life) and the planet (reduction in heat related greenhouse gas emissions).

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 piping The 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 applications 2. Installation of pilot systems in Kenya for data gathering and marketing 3. Supply of hardware with Kenyan partner to penetrate market 4. 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.

Solar thermal technology has the potential to drastically reduce dependence on fossil and biomass fuels to meet heating demand in sub-Sahara Africa. Harnessing Africa's abundant solar radiation with solar thermal will reduce end user energy costs, lower the demand on grid, decrease deforestation, while improving energy security and lowering carbon emissions. The current low penetration of solar thermal technology in Africa, however, is due to: * High system cost * Difficult transportation of components * Complex installation * Shortage of skilled installers This project aims to address key barriers which have prevented the adoption of solar thermal technology in sub-Sahara Africa, focusing on the following objectives: * Design and testing of a complete low-cost solar thermal system. Our goal is to reduce system cost by approximately 40% compared to current systems available. The system will comprise of SolarisKit's flat-packable solar collectors, a new low-cost solar thermal controller compatible with high efficiency pumps, and plastic piping kit. * Conduct extensive in-country testing of the new low-cost solar thermal system for domestic and commercial applications. * Create a solar thermal centre of excellence at Strathmore University to train installers of solar thermal systems. In previous work funded by Energy Catalyst 7, SolarisKit successfully developed its low-cost flat-packable solar collector, improving its performance while reducing its cost. While the collector is a core component of a solar hot water system, other components are also required contributing to its overall cost. This project focuses on developing a new low-cost solar pump controller with fuzzy logic, and plastic hydraulic piping kit to further reduce total system cost. The lower cost system is targeted at both domestic and commercial applications with in-country testing to be completed in Kenya and Rwanda. Installation skill level is a key barrier preventing solar thermal technology reaching its potential in Africa. To address this issue, SolarisKit will partner with Strathmore Energy Research Centre to establish a centre of excellence to train technicians on the installation and maintenance of solar hot water systems. This centre will be an ideal platform to transfer knowledge from the UK to Kenya, building upon Kenya's current solar thermal capacity. By the end of our 24 month project, we will develop a new low-cost solar thermal system suitable for the African market, create a Centre of Excellence for the Installation of Solar Thermal Systems, complete the training of 10-15 technicians, and carry out the installation of approximately 150 collectors for training and commercial pilots.

SolarisKit is developing a new, lower cost, flat-packable solar thermal collector to the sub-Saharan market. Our collector will provide a more affordable method to provide clean hot water to homes, business (e.g. hotels) and industry. This project focuses on developing the collector for pilot trials in Rwanda. We will be targeting the installation of up to 100 collectors for a range of applications including domestic and commercial.