Dr Priti Parikh Awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Senior Research Fellowship

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Priti Parikh from ISULabaNtu and the Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London has been awarded a five-year fellowship ‘Smart Solar Solutions for All (S34ALL)’ with the Royal Academy of Engineering co-funded by industry partner BBOXX.

A billion people worldwide lack access to sufficient energy and nearly 3 billion rely on polluting cooking fuels. The household electrification rate in Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest in the world, around 42% in 2016. Energy access has a fundamental role to play in poverty alleviation, providing access to education, access to markets and information, enhancing mobility through improved transportation systems and food security.

Current work on modelling in low-middle income countries is sparse. S34ALL will develop energy prediction models for this setting taking into account erratic consumption patterns combining quantitative models such as artificial neural networks with consumer behavior studies. The goal is to generate the evidence base to ensure sustainable and affordable energy access through working closely with industry partner BBOXX who have installed smart solar solutions in rural, urban and refugee camp settings across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. S34All will focus on four of their markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. The planned models will provide valuable evidence to inform decision-making on market expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa and support technical choices to ensure local benefits for communities.

You can learn more here.