Startups + Innovations

Outside Africa

Farmers are famously self-reliant. Why not use farm dams as mini-hydro plants?

  • Techexplore
  • As solar gets cheaper, more and more farms are aiming to become self-reliant in power: Take two reservoirs, where one is higher than the other. When you have extra solar power, you store it. How? By using the energy to pump water uphill to the top reservoir. When you need power later on, you release water down to the lower reservoir and produce electricity with a turbine.
Photo: Waya Energy

MIT students develop energy “mini-grid” software for remote & mountainous areas

  • Freethink
  • Researchers from the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid created Waya Energy, a Cambridge-based startup commercializing MIT-developed planning and analysis software. The REM software has been used to design off-grid systems for remote and mountainous regions in Uganda, Peru, Nigeria, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, and elsewhere.
Photo: Paired Power

Off-grid solar canopy charges electric tractor at California winery

  • pv magazine
  • Paired Power, a provider of solar-powered EV charging products, and Monarch Tractor, a fully electric tractor manufacturer announced the two have partnered to deliver an emissions-free tractor solution for Kaerskov Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley, California. The winery’s solar canopy is a 38.5 kW array comprised of 72 panels, 535 W each. The panels are made by JA Solar.
Photo: E-gap

Can off-grid charging transform the geography of cities?

  • domus
  • That is what we kept asking ourselves upon the presentation of E-gap Fast, a mobile charging station for electric vehicles, designed with Pininfarina to provide full service while disconnected from the electrical grid. This mobile service station is based on a 200 kWh battery with a smart charging system that enables it to deliver, without drawing from the grid.
Photo: UNB

Mobile solar pump becomes boon for Kurigram’s char farmers

  • The Business Post
  • The innovative mobile solar pump boasts a setup comprising eight strategically positioned solar panels mounted on iron frames. Through the use of a battery-less converter, farmers are able to harness water from nearby rivers and canals by employing plastic piping and an electric pump. The pump has been ingeniously designed to be mobile and transportable directly to the fields.
Photo: Dryad

Solar for wildfire detection

  • pv magazine
  • When it comes to wildfire response, speed is important. German-headquartered Dryad Networks has released its Silvanet Wildfire Sensor to help detect wildfires within minutes, alerting first responders so they can take action to mitigate damage. The sensors are small, off-grid plastic devices with a solar cell built into the surface as a power source.

Could sand be the next lithium?

  • The Washington Post
  • At Polar Night Energy’s facilities in the city of Tampere, hulking steel vats hold heaps of sand, heated to around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That stored energy helps to smooth out power grid spikes and back up district heating networks, keeping homes, offices, saunas and swimming pools warm. The heat keeps flowing, even in remote areas, even as Russian fossil fuel supplies dwindle.
Photo: Kilovault

KiloVault introduces solar-ready DIY off-grid battery

  • pv magazine
  • KiloVault, a Massachusetts-based company, introduced a new energy storage system for off-grid solar installations called the Uniti EcoFreedom. The battery is pre-wired with a single-phase AC inverter and is designed as a simple do-it-yourself (DIY) installation. The company reports that the EcoFreedom Lite retails at $6,999, the EcoFreedom 5 at $9,999, and the EcoFreedom 10 at $12,999.
Photo: Our Next Energy

Michigan Start-Up Our Next Energy Mixing a Better Battery

  • WardsAuto
  • Our Next Energy says its lithium iron phosphate battery pack is approaching widely used nickel cobalt manganese batteries in terms of energy density, and already surpasses them in terms of durability and safety. Mujeeb Ijaz, who founded Our Next Energy, says LFP batteries developed by the start-up also are safer than NCM batteries because they don’t catch fire.

Egypt: The start up providing locally manufactured solar water heater

  • africanews
  • Shamsina, which is incubated at Harvard Innovation Labs, has so far developed five different iterations of its thermal solar water heater. With a total seed funding of nearly $ 25,000, Shamsina has piloted 30 water heaters in different low-income neighbourhoods across the country. With local R&D and local components, the company offers consumers a more affordable solar water heater.