Moving IMPACT: Integrated Means to Power Agriculture, Clean Cooking and Transportation

Clean energy access will be key for achieving the global development goals; it has clear links to health, education, water access, etc... Many regions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, have low electricity access today. Scalability, cost-effectiveness and abundance of solar irradiance make solar the best technology for this endeavour. Solar Home Systems (SHS) have successfully provided basic services like lighting and mobile phone charging to many communities. However, SHS offer low power output, which limits their ability to support more energy-intensive applications such as electric cooking. Electric stoves, which could significantly reduce reliance on wood stoves, offer health and environmental benefits but require much more power than what SHS can provide. Connecting multiple SHS to form a larger grid has been considered but is often impractical due to high costs and limited scalability. Instead, community-scale solar mini-grids, with larger generation and storage, present a viable alternative. These mini-grids can be designed to support household cooking and industrial and agricultural uses such as grain milling and cooling. They can also provide power for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, an important development in many African cities where motorbike taxis are common. Electric motorbikes offer a cleaner alternative to fuel-powered engines but require reliable and substantial power sources for charging. Integrating mini-grids with local distribution networks can enhance their efficiency and reliability. By connecting mini-grids to these networks, they can share resources and provide power during peak demand times or when the main grid is down. This integration can benefit both the mini-grids and the distribution system, creating a more resilient energy network. The installation of solar panels requires a significant land area, which can conflict with agricultural activities and conservation efforts. However, solar panels can power agricultural equipment like water pumps and with appropriate co-design (agrivoltaics) the panels can provide shade and support soil temperature control and water conservation. Additionally, the revenue from mini-grid services can support local farmers and enhance their economic stability. Our project will explore how mini-grids with EV charging infrastructure for small vehicles can be integrated into agricultural areas and support various community needs. We will develop geographical models to identify optimal locations for these mini-grids and evaluate how different technologies and applications can be combined. Our research team, with expertise in infrastructure planning, political geography, and electrical engineering, will focus on how mini-grids can interact with local distribution networks to maximize their benefits. We plan to test these concepts in real-world settings by deploying a small set of EVs and suitable charging infrastructure. The interaction with the community, industrial developers and national regulators based in Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya will provide steering and inform the development of models and systems required in our work. The project is led by Imperial College London with a consortium of researchers from the University of Strathmore (Kenya), University of Energy and Natural Resources of Ghana, the University of Leeds, the University of Rwanda, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the Kigali Centre for Collaborative Research (Rwanda).