Top 10 Renewable Transformation Challenge Applications & Live Webinar to Announce Winner

ISES and Elsevier are happy to present the top 10 entries for the Renewable Transformation Challenge 2021. A panel of international scientific experts, jurors, reviewed the application. These top ten applications were then evaluated by the Elsevier-ISES awards’ judging committee for the selection of the winning proposal. The winning application will be announced in a live webinar on 16 November 14:00 CET. See more details below on how to sign-up. The top ten applications are:

Captive solar energy for the agri-food sector - Austria: Agriculture is a key sector of the Ugandan economy and beyond as 80% of the working population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Together with local partners in Uganda, this project develops, implements and operates system solutions for the agri-food sector. Food processing and solar energy know-how is transferred, adapted to local needs and responsibility for the complete supply chain is acquired ­starting with certified organic agriculture, food processing, solar energy supply till sales.

Coldbox Store - Nigeria: Coldbox Store is an efficient, walk-in, commercial, refrigeration solution that can store up to 15 tons of fruits and vegetables at a time. The system uses one solar-powered compressor for precooling and cold storage and is designed to be completely off-grid as Solar PV powers the entire solution. Designed after engaging with farmers and Agribusinesses in Nigeria's fruit and vegetable supply chain, this project addresses the problems of post-harvest losses and the inability of farmers to access high value markets on time.

Cooling as a Service - Switzerland: Cooling as a Service (CaaS) is an innovative business model that aims to make energy-efficient cooling more competitive and affordable by enabling customers to outsource cooling services, rather than investing in the equipment. End-customers pay for the cooling they receive, rather than the physical product. CaaS is a disruptive solution with the potential to rapidly accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy in which cooling is accessible to all.

Harnessing Solar Energy in Yemen - United Arab Emirates: ITDC's Solar Program focuses on helping Yemenis harness the significant solar energy available in their country by equipping rural communities with needed technical knowledge, practical experience and hands on skills. The Alternative Energy Course teaches participants how to design, install and maintain photovoltaic systems and build solar cookers. The course is designed to enable Yemenis with minimal education and no prior technical expertise to become solar technicians, to correct faulty designs, and to build systems that last for decades.

I Lit My Community - Ghana: The "I lit my community" project was launched by E-Cycle Ghana, an NGO. This project was aimed at helping the hard-working youth to think and design solutions to some of the alarming problems in their communities, particularly in the power system. E-Cycle is an electronic waste recycling company, that turns this waste into power storage, security, cooling, and sound systems vantage points in the community.

Make refrigeration affordable & accessible to all - France: Koolboks has created the Koolhome, a Pay As You Go solar-powered refrigerator that also provides LED lighting and USB ports specifically for the sub-Saharan African market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Koolboks spearheaded an effort to inspire people in Nigeria who lost their jobs due to launch frozen food businesses using solar refrigeration. Our main goal is to create a sustainable model to finance off-grid solar refrigerators to rural markets and communities that need them the most.

Solar Freeze - Kenya: Solar Freeze Ltd is a social enterprise working in Kenya and a pioneer in solar-powered cold storage products and services for the storage of food and medical products and temperature sensitive vaccines. The project's goal is to help off-grid and weak-grid communities access reliable and effective cold storage solutions for as little as $0.1 cents per day. The team offers remote monitoring of the solar refrigeration units giving clinics real-time technical support for critical vaccine and medication storage.

SunShine4All - Circularity on PV to 100% RES - Mexico: This project aims to democratize access to clean and sustainable energy systems by implementing a transformative circular economy in the PV supply chain in Mexico. By 2030, 6.500 tons of PV panels will become electronic waste in Mexico and nearly 180.000 tons within the Americas. This huge environmental concern can be transformed into a solution for energy poverty by SunShine4Alls innovative alternative for the PV value chain. The applicability of PV technologies can be expanded to vulnerable sectors and people, supporting a green and sustainable recovery, while providing a creative way of dealing with the PV waste issue.

SUN-to-LIQUID - solar liquid hydrocarbon fuels - Switzerland: This project developed a technology to transform the aviation energy base to 100% renewable drop-in fuels and thus to minimize the carbon footprint of the aviation sector at the global scale. It uses abundant feedstocks water, CO2 and solar energy without conflict with arable land. The core conversion technology is a thermochemical redox cycle driven by concentrated solar energy, utilizing the entire solar spectrum and operating at thermodynamically efficient high temperatures to co-split water and CO2 into high-quality synthesis gas that is further processed to clean hydrocarbon fuels.

We Care Solar - USA:  The “Light Every Birth” initiative ensures that Safe Motherhood programs prioritize clean, reliable electricity and is being adopted by governments in East and West Africa. The We Care Solar Suitcase provides health centers with reliable power for medical lighting, emergency communication and medical devices, and creates an enabling environment to underserved health centers, facilitating timely, safe, and appropriate emergency obstetric care and improving childbirth outcomes for mothers and newborns. Collaborating with international partners, we provide capacity-building training to local technicians on solar installation, usage and maintenance to ensure maximum effectiveness.