Solar Panel Rehabilitation in Rural Uganda

A fourth-year capstone design project with Vachana Gurkar, Sennett Kennaley and Steven Ekvall.

InUganda, energy access for majority of thepopulationis a challenge. Organizations have been working to increasethe availability of electricity to households. In unelectrified regions, accessis highly dependent on affordability and as such the market has been flooded by lower quality, cheap industrial SHS products.These deviceshave an average lifespan of between 3 to 5 years. The short duration combined with the rapid growth and low-quality technology is projected to result in a substantial e-waste problem.The potential solution to both energy access and the looming e-waste problem is solar panel rehabilitation into mini grids.

Phase 1 Final Presentation

Phase 1 Final Report

Phase 2 Planning

Phase 2 Final Report