Cost-effective Photovoltaics Research - A Summer School in Nairobi in 2007

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Motivation

In September 2005, Dr. Thomas Dittrich of the Hahn-Meitner Institute and Sebastian Rönsch of the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange visited several Kenyan universities. During these visits the idea of a summer school in photovoltaics emerged and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Nairobi, a partner of the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange since 2005, kindly offered to host it in August 2007.

The summer school's main aim is to teach young East African scientists cost-effective methods designed to be best suited for photovoltaics research in the East African region. It implements a variety of teaching methods by presenting the knowledge to the participants in lectures, seminars and laboratory training. The laboratory training uses equipment usually available at most East African universities. Because participants will be from the East African region and lecturers from Germany and Kenya, the summer school will help its participants to integrate further into regional research networks and in the global science community. The summer school represents a natural extension of the past and current collaborative activities in photovoltaics research between Hahn-Meitner Institute and institutions in Nairobi, which has been and continues to be coordinated by the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange.

The need for sustainable access to energy

Energy is a basic human need. Delivery of water, cooking of food, transportation, educational facilities like computers, medical equipment in hospitals and communication tools like telephones and internet access are always directly connected with access to energy. Furthermore, statistics show that students with light in the evening hours are more successful than those without because of the extended time to study. However, in Kenya for example, only 2% of the population in rural areas have access to electrical energy. Long distances in sparsely populated areas increase the cost and thus impede the development of a countrywide grid. In urban areas, like Nairobi and other towns, electricity is available for 9% of the population on average, but most likely quite unreliable. Power cuts are part of the daily life but a peripheral and reliable power supply system is a requirement for serious and innovative work. The energy problem is a global issue. Many countries have difficulties to provide a sufficient power supply system for their population. The United Nations already addressed this issue in their millennium goals.

Energy can be produced by burning of fossil fuels, like petrol or coal, and by using renewable energy sources, like solar, wind or hydrogen power. It has however become a clear scientific fact that global climate change is primarily caused by burning of fossil fuels. This means, environmental problems caused by climate change, such as floods, droughts and storms, are intimately linked to the production of energy. Production of energy from renewable sources rather than from fossil fuels must therefore become the focus. This was emphasized by Mrs. Wieczorek-Zeul, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, when she talked at the international conference "Renewables 2004" about a "new consensus that renewable energies are the energies of the future". She stated further: "Renewables help us to avoid climate risks. ... Let us be united in our conviction that [renewable energy sources represent] the only sustainable future and that we can convince all of our fellow citizens to support the policies that will lead us there." One way to produce energy from renewable energy sources is through photovoltaics.

The advantages of photovoltaics research in East Africa

Whereas research on photovoltaics has been intensified in regions like Europe with Germany being one of its leaders, a different situation can be found in East Africa. The potential capacities in East Africa should be developed not only to improve the access to energy and to increase the worldwide research effort in general but more importantly to create a truly global response that is indispensable to address global climate change. Well trained local scientists are in a far better position than their foreign colleagues to advise their local governments on the science involved in energy policy decisions in order to contribute to the worldwide effort mitigating climate change.

Another example is that although it is agreed photovoltaics in general is one solution to the problem of climate change, specific aspects of the solution may vary from region to region. Local expertise must therefore be built up, being able to develop solutions specific to the region. In East Africa, for instance, it is a higher priority to develop solar cells that are cost-effective rather than achieve highest energy conversion efficiency. Cost-effective methods also have the potential to address many challenges scientists are facing in photovoltaics research worldwide. While for instance the development of silicon solar cells requires sophisticated equipment, others, and in particular dye sensitized solar cells, can be developed and produced very cost-effectively. Leveraging such cost-effective methods, East African scientists would be able to achieve international scientific success in photovoltaics research even without permanent access to expensive high-technology research equipment.

Acknowledgements