Three projects in the category specializing in the production of electrical uses and services will participate in the final.

The category "Electricity services and usages" highlights any service that enables to expand electrification and any innovative product with low power consumption; recoverable by users of electricity services. Today, we are talking about three projects that are as innovative as each other and that have a significant impact on the lives of the communities in which they find themselves. These start-ups will be invited to pitch before a jury of experts on November 22, in Paris.
Below, a brief presentation of each of these innovations.

 
 
BURKINA ÉNERGIE ET TECHNOLOGIES APPROPRIÉES, Burkina Faso

The Burkina Faso based start-up designs and markets egg incubators using solar energy. This inexpensive solution is developed in partnership with engineers from Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
 
The incubator has a capacity of 240 eggs and has an automatic egg tilting system that can predict relative humidity and temperature for constant conditions. The company assembles solar panels locally to directly meet the needs of communities and ensure the sustainability of their use.

The company has a competent and multidisciplinary team and its approach to solution design is resolutely inclusive. The team works with local resources to design products that are truly tailored to the needs of their targets. The social impact is at the heart of their approach (job creation in particular, but also technical training). The solutions produced locally are cheaper, both for the initial price and for their maintenance (unlike imported products).

 
 

SAVANNA CIRCUIT TECH Ltd, Kenya

Based in Kenya, Savanna Circuit Tech Ltd. offers a mobile cooling system powered by solar energy, as well as a platform accessible via a smartphone, allowing producers / dairy companies to maximize their profits. The start-up responds to the challenges of milk loss in rural areas, which can reach 2 billion liters per year. These losses due to long transport distances and lack of conservation infrastructure are a major disadvantage for small farmers.
 
The 1,000-watt solar-powered system uses a 1-hp compressor to cool 100 liters of milk in 27 minutes at 4 degrees Celsius. This eliminates the rapid proliferation of bacteria responsible for the deterioration of milk.
The commercialization of this solution is already effective, responds to local needs and helps to effectively fight against food insecurity. The company has offices in the famous Strathmore University Business School in the Kenyan capital.
 
The founding team of Savanna Circuit Tech Ltd. consists of a software engineer and an innovation manager. Their complementary skills allow them to lead a team of nine people who assure dairy farmers that their products are properly stocked.

 

SOLAR FREEZE, Kenya

Solar Freeze's solar units effectively replace coal-fired cold rooms in Kenya. In the past, to store perishable food, farmers used cold rooms that drew their energy from charcoal obtained from incinerated trees. The direct consequence was increasing deforestation. To solve this big problem, Solar Freeze's founders have developed cold rooms that are less polluting and operate on solar energy.
 
3,000 small farmers represent the direct beneficiaries of this solution, 80% of whom are women. This innovation had the major effect of reducing food losses by 95% and considerably increasing (10 times) the incomes of small producers. Solar Freeze's cold rooms are accessible on an on-demand platform via USSD, SMS.
 
The team is composed as follows:
- Fadekunayo Jolomi Adeniyi, PhD student in renewable energy (University of Durham, UK) and MSc in Renewable Energy Science, University of Plymouth, UK.
- Dysmus Kisilu, a graduate of the University of California Davis - Renewable Energy.