Solar Energy

An energy-autonomous solution from Festo can now be used to actuate the gate valves automatically by remote control. A photovoltaic or wind-power system supplies the necessary electricity for the operation of this valve terminal solution and a compressor generates compressed air

The manual operation of remote decentralised plants such as rainwater retention basins is costly in terms of both time and money. Energy-autonomous automation with photovoltaic or wind power could provide a solution to this problem.

The co-founder of SunFarmer, a Toronto startup that offers long-term financing for solar energy systems in underserved regions, has spent the past two years setting up projects around the country and understood what a natural disaster of this scale meant for the people on the ground 

“Unfortunately Nepal has a history of being a difficult place to do business and a difficult government to deal with, [so] it’s been difficult for many of the relief agencies to work with them and get relief aid into the country,” Mr. Gray says.

The prime minister has approved a summary that proposes installation of 30,000 solar water pumps for farmers across the country at an estimated cost of Rs12 billion

The officer said the prime minister had asked the Ministry of Finance to include the proposal in the upcoming budget and allocate required funds. Under the project, 30,000 solar water pumps will be installed over the next five years and its cost has been estimated at Rs12 billion.

Punjab province is set to launch an innovation for water-short Pakistan: Solar-powered ATMs that dispense clean water when a smart card is scanned

The two-foot-square prototype machine looks and functions like an ATM, but dispenses water instead of cash. Users are issued a card they can use to claim a daily share of water.

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jain Irrigation Systems have come up with a method of turning brackish water into drinking water using renewable energy

Low-cost solar water purifier (SWP) can be produced by village craftsmen

Norwegian Refugee Council has completed the installation of a  the largest, solar-powered borehole in Africa. The solar water system, equipped with 278 solar panels and 69.5 KW power rating is located at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and is capable of providing the refugees a daily average of 280,000 litres of potable water

A pioneering solar-powered water distribution system is improving access to potable water in a region of Far North Cameroon beset by drought, water-related illness and an influx of refugees fleeing Boko Haram attacks

The system, in which water is collected in a large dam built amid the region's hills and piped to a series of underground community wells, aims to cut the distance women need to walk to collect water and improve access to safe water.

Non-governmental organisation Connect International is testing the combination of solar panels and submersible pumps at the Smart Centre of the Mzuzu University in Malawi

Technical advisor Renier Veldman of Connect International and his Dutch colleague Hans Kasbergen (left on top photo) of Central chuch of Central Africa Presby (CCAP) are conducting the test together with two students of Mzuzu University.