Reduce the Cost of Energy in Africa

Submitted by: Jonas Ketterle

Collaborators:

• Gil Masters (Stanford University): Professor, Mechanical Engineering
• Mike Lin (Stanford University): CEO, Fenix International

Abstract: Government-run power generation and distribution is failing in developing nations. Power plant installations are expensive, and grid improvements are nonexistent because copper transmission wires are often scavenged for scrap metal. At the current rate of electrification, it may take more than 800 years to bring Kenya, one of the most economically vibrant nations in Africa, onto the national grid. Even alternatives such as petrol-powered generators and solar panel systems experience only limited success because of cost and reliability issues. As a consequence, the world's poor have re-appropriated 12 Volt lead-acid car batteries as the de-facto power source. While usage rates are still low, an estimated 150 million people now use these conventional systems. The practice of using jumper cables or twisting bare wires to connect appliances limits the usage of the battery to one application at a time, and poses a serious safety risk.

Background: To better understand battery performance, our Stanford University research team will build a battery test stand to simulate battery usage in off-grid systems. The battery test stand consists of high performance programmable power supplies to charge the batteries, programmable electronic loads to discharge the batteries, and a computer based control and data acquisition system. In parallel, we will conduct surveys of study participants to quantify the use of the battery systems. This collected data will then be used to define test conditions that are input into the battery test system. Additionally, collected qualitative data will establish the socio-economic context of off-grid battery use in a methodical manner.

Links:

• Small is Profitable
• Research Proposal