Britain’s Swansea University is leading a consortium that aims to develop the sustainable production of next-generation perovskite solar panels in Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya.
A group of scientists has been awarded £3 million ($3.7 million) to explore potential production opportunities for perovskite solar panels in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria.
The group aims to encourage sustainable indigenous production for the solar energy sector in low- and middle-income countries. The Resilient Renewable Energy Access Through Community-Driven Holistic Development in Perovskite Solar Module Manufacturing (REACH-PSM) consortium is led by the UK’s Swansea University.
Kenya’s Strathmore University and Egerton University are also part of the group, as is Nigeria’s Federal University of Technology Owerri. The South African University of Cape Town, North West University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal complete the academic part of the consortium.
Various sustainable energy companies make their expertise available to the operation. These are Kenya-based Kijani Testing, SLS Energy in Rwanda and Nigeria’s Hinkley Recycling.
The commercial and academic partners will work together to create business models and fully demonstrate next-generation solar energy production in Africa, where energy poverty is high and resources are low.
Despite the continent’s struggle to keep up with expensive renewable energy technologies, REACH-PSM project leaders believe it has the potential to host perovskite production facilities that could supply local areas with perovskite solar cells. The emerging perovskite technology is cheaper when it comes to solar cell production and also consumes less energy.
According to REACH-PSM principal investigator Matthew Davies, introducing a new manufacturing process means it can be designed for a circular economy from the start.
“A key part of the project will be to develop efficient end-of-life treatment to minimize waste and maximize the circular material flow through reuse, renovation and recycling of solar panels.”
Davies added that the consortium’s work would help empower local communities and strengthen supply chains. It builds on other projects that Swansea University has established around developing next-generation solar energy in low-income countries, such as TEA@SUNRISE, which focuses on PV production in Africa, Asia and the Indo-Pacific and is being funded by the British government.
REACH-PSM is funded by the Ayrton Challenge Program of the British Research and Innovation. Davies currently holds the position of UNESCO Chair of Sustainable Technologies, coordinating the development of next-generation printable technologies.
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