MIT Solve

Solution Overview & Team Lead Details

Solution name.

Afrosoltech Industries Ltd

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

Turning on everywhere through sustainable African context-based cyber-physical ICT and IoT-enabled swarm-communication networks (AMLIIoT), peer-to-peer green energy solutions (KasanaShare) and electromobility technologies.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

The urbanization boom associated with the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries is at the root of the concept of smart sustainable cities and communities. In the twentieth century, cities housed approximately 12.5% of the world's population (Townsend, 2013); however, in the twenty-first century, this percentage has risen to 52%. (UNDESA, 2012). This demonstrates that cities house more than half of the world's population, and this figure is only expected to rise. According to statistical projections, the percentage of people living in cities will be around 70% by 2050. Urban dwellers are expected to account for 86% and 64% of the global population in developed and developing regions, respectively (UNDESA, 2012).

Given the global urbanization trend and the pursuit of sustainable development, the concept of Sustainable Cities and Communities emerged and drew the attention of many researchers and practitioners in the field as a desired goal for future urban development (Nam & Pardo, 2011).

In Uganda, unsustainable and unreliable energy access in Makindye, Kampala City, Uganda, a home to over 400,000 people in slum households, has overwhelming negative effects on climate change, including increased greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels and coal, which currently accounts for 3,771,000 tones used by the slum households per square kilometer per year, resulting in heavy premature deaths, noise, and air pollution. Main utility grid bypass burning down these settlements as a result of power surges and grid breakdown fires leaving many homeless and helpless.

The challenge is to ensure that cities offer, for current and future generations, improved living conditions to their citizens. These conditions span over the economic, technological, social and regulatory aspects of living. But, with individualized access to smart clean renewable energy is a dream come true due to the high costs, inefficiencies and unavailability to power up households, small and medium enterprises hence forth affecting the social, environmental and economic growth of ecosystems in low resource countries.

According to the literature, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offer high potential for solutions to many of these obstacles faced by cities while ensuring being friendly and viable to the environment (Townsend, 2013). Henceforth, with sharing clean energy through a peer wise network proving to be a success in countries like Bangladesh and Singapore, Afrosoltech Industries Ltd through it's initiatives such as AMLIIoT a connected-IoT Swarm Communications network built on LoRaWAN and KasanaShare an ICT and IoT enabled peer-to-peer green energy sharing platform rise up not only to break the scourge of the great digital divide but also create a breakthrough to access of sustainable, efficient and effective smart, clean and renewable energy in Uganda through sharing and exchange to increase adaptability to clean energy and attainability of SDG11, SDG7, SDG9 , SDG12 and SDG13.

What is your solution?

We present two solutions. (i) KasanaShare an ICT and IoT-enabled peer-to-peer green energy sharing platform and (ii) AMLIIoT a connected IoT Swarm Communications network built on LoRaWAN.

KasanaShare shall be Uganda's first shareable and affordable green renewable energy exchange platform that shall translate communities and societies as partners for adaptability to clean energy for resilient ecosystems. Sharing energy has proven to be the most effective method for adaptability to clean energy but Uganda has been limited due to a lack of affordable technological resources that can translate solar grids into efficient energy sources. KasanaShare shall be the first of its kind in Uganda that shall enable Real-estate owners and Landlords in Uganda to become Prosumers through use of their rooftops as sources of grid energy that can be shared to their tenants at a relatively low price and a surplus be shared with other households in their surroundings or net metered to the utility grid. Our KasanaShare is being developed through the use of the Node-RED MQTT platform.

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On the Other hand, AMLIIoT is a communications cyber-physical infrastructure that powers the interaction of the smart networked IoT meters and Wi-Fi to break the digital divide, especially in resource deficit places like Uganda. Through the AMLIIoT, we deploy the Konnekted-Links wireless devices to rapidly create a mesh network on the ground. The Konnekted-Links are like small Internet of Things (IoT) devices that provide connectivity to consumer electronics either through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and can talk with other Konnekted-Links over LoRa, a long-range and low-power radio. These wireless tech devices provide off-grid and off-telecom networking when traditional infrastructure is offline. We use a Data Management Systems platform with a simple toolset for visualizing and managing data and activity in a swarm network. By analyzing cellular congestion, we optimize our resources.

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Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We are tackling the unstainable and unreliable energy access in informal settlements of Makindye, Kampala City, Uganda home to over 400,000 people in slum households. Inaccessibility to green and sustainable renewable energy has overwhelming negative impacts of climate change which include increased GHG and CO2 emissions due burning of fossil fuels and coal currently accounting for 3,771,000 tons of coal used by the slum households per square kilometer per year resulting to heavy premature deaths, noise and air pollution due to use of diesel generators and main utility grid bypass burning down these settlements as a result of power surges and grid breakdown fires leaving many homeless and helpless. Many slum households live for less than a dollar per day and energy is very essential for the daily operations of these households and their small to medium enterprises that employ many women and youth. The success that we shall register in this area will enable us to scale our solution to other similar areas in the Cities to bring the dream of Climate Smart Cities in Low Developing countries like Uganda and beyond.

The most affected groups by the problem are informal settlements or semi-informal settlements such as Refugee camps and Slums which act as buffers for many refugees and illegal immigrants. However, the challenge cannot be justified on only those groups. The schools are still burning a lot of cool and have no improved facilities to create conducive study environments for students, the farmlands are also starving, and big portions of land are not put into use due to climate change and prolonged drought seasons. More energy is needed for refrigeration which is fundamental in minimizing food waste and cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.

We are similar to ME SOLshare in Bangladesh and Innovex however we take a community eccentric approach driven with Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics to understand the needs and demands of communities such that we can provide the peer-to-peer energy services to the slum household communities, small and medium enterprises in City and urban areas. The current solar systems in Uganda and the country at large are owned by individuals who don't share their surplus energy to others and for the many households in the slums, affording such systems is costly not forgetting the maintenance costs engaged. Therefore, what we do is, a landlord can own one and share energy across the tenants at an appreciably low-cost price earning income for the landlord as the slum households benefit with sustainable low-priced energy from the Landlord's solar grid. This is a sustainable ecosystem being introduced in Uganda for the first time especially in driving adaptability to clean and smart energy.

KasanaShare takes PaaS and IaaS developed in Node-Red and MQTT protocol for information exchange with the grids and Database for efficiency, predictability, effectiveness and resilience. Exchange of data and Analytics makes our approach unique with the edge being pushed into Artificial Intelligence especially with building sustainability in low resource settings like Uganda.

KasanaShare not only powers up households, but also Small and medium enterprises owned by many women and youths in disadvantaged communities such that they can have extra disposable income enabling many to be able to send their children to school and provide electricity power used by children to read at night We are optimistic that through efficient provision of energy and electricity power by use of data analytics, IoT, hybrid/off grid PV Systems and engaging local authorities of Makindye city area. The optimal implementation shall begin with Off Grid Smart system connected across three to five households in each part all sharing energy provided by one household that owns a smart PV System and with measurements of the power consumed by each household across the sensor gateways recorded and sent to the cloud database, then used for Data Analytics and Simulations to train optimal models for supply of efficient, resilient and readily available clean energy. The possible hurdles currently are in low levels of confidence in Uganda as there is no ground working system to illustrate for others to know about and therefore, we shall be introducing a very novel approach to the society which requires finance to be catapulted from the ground.

Due to the tremendous digital divide, we added a Wi-Fi network based on the LoRaWAN which is AMLIIoT to break the burden of internet access and the need for reliable cyber-physical infrastructure.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

We were selected as finalists within the Climate Smart Cities challenge where we met each other as teams working to address energy access hence developed our synergy there and then. This was a very important milestone in establishing contact and building team interoperability.

Finalists of the Climate Smart Cities Challenge are unveiled! - Climate Smart Cities

Announcing the Climate Smart Cities Challenge finalists (challengeworks.org)

We were also selected as finalists at Innovate2030 where we worked with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC under Transformative Climate Actions on the Digital for Climate Change Challenge. We both learned about systemic approaches that we can take in building sustainability and community led adaptation on Climate Change.

5 Green Tech Projects We Love | UNFCCC

Our team is diverse with skills ranging from Research, Academia, Software, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Sustainability and Biodiversity. We offer Smart PV System engineering, Smart Infrastructure Management, PV System architect design, Biogas technology constructech, Data Analytics and AI. We work jointly within Uganda and Bangladesh.

We are also incorporated in Uganda through URSB

Masuba Aaron, the Chief Visionary and Technology lead also championed the prestigious Artificial Intelligence prize by winning the IBM Call for Code AI Spot Challenge as the 2nd runner up which gives us confidence in what we do through the technical competence and expertise. Sheila who is currently the Sustainability Lead and Acting Chief Executive of Afrosoltech Industries Ltd is a finalist in the BBA class of BRAC Business school in Bangladesh. Gathering the technical and business expertise grants us the confidence that we can
achieve the best.

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What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

According to the survey we conducted in collaboration with Start-Hub Africa at Makerere University in the outskirts of Kampala, Makindye Ssabagabo area, we discovered that the current solar systems used in cities in Uganda and at the country at large are limited in capacity and very costly to purchase, maintain and expensive for a very large portion of Ugandans to afford hence relying on inefficient sources such as fossil fuels and kerosene lamps which are unhealthy and unsafe as some building have been witnessed burning.

With the great siege of the electricity transmission infrastructure due to instabilities, load shedding and numerous other disadvantages like limited electrification in some parts, KasanaShare therefore stands out as a very safe and affordable even to the poor households that cannot own a solar grid can purchase from a neighbor that has surplus energy on the grid.

The prevalence of climate change, premature deaths, hunger and prolonged drought are some of the indicators that enough is not being done to curb the effects of climate change. Schools and public gathering centers still relying on firewood for their cooking demands are some of the evidence based co-existent situations in the communities that need accelerated high impact solutions that are contextually hybrid to tackle the community challenges. Cases of slums burning down and camps turning into ashes are indicators of how unstainable the practices are within such settings and therefore driving strides to redraw the lines through sustainably engineered solutions is fundamental to elevating such circumstances.

Our platform shall collect data on solar energy usage and ensure that resilience is built within the energy ecosystems and the solar grid owners shall actively be partners and prosumers that not only consume solar energy but also earn as the supply to others. This shall be very sustainable for the Ugandan ecosystem especially in adapting to clean and smart energy.

Screenshots of the results from the survey are attached here below. On demand, acess to the drive may be granted.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

In what city, town, or region is your solution team located?

Kampala, Uganda

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Ms. Sheila Nabuduwa

More About Your Solution

If your solution has a website or an app, provide the link here:

https://github.com/KASANASHARE/KasanaShare_App

What makes your solution innovative?

Many people resort to individualized access to smart clean renewable energy is a dream come true due to the high costs, inefficiencies and unavailability to power up households, small and medium enterprises hence affecting the social, environmental and economic growth of ecosystems in low resource countries. With sharing clean energy through a peer-to-peer network proving to be a success in countries like Bangladesh and Singapore, Ours KasanaShare

strides to break the scourge of access to sustainable, efficient and effective smart, clean and renewable energy in Uganda through sharing and exchange to increase adaptability to clean energy and improved reliability boosting the peak energy demand areas, lowering costs of operations and amplifying the returns on Investments.

KasanaShare shall be Uganda’s first green renewable energy sharing and exchange platform to power up households, and small and medium enterprises with solar PV system grids and IoT for adaptability to clean energy and climate change mitigation.

KasanaShare wants to make Real-estate owners and Landlords become Prosumers using their rooftops as sources of green grid energy shared to peer wisely to other households in their surroundings and surplus returned to the utility grid at a market price.

Besides KasanaShare, we have also developed a cyber-physical mesh network for connecting the smart infrastructure called AMLIIoT and this has been made possible through the technical backbone from Intel Corporation where Masuba Aaron works as a student Ambassador for oneAPI.

What are your impact goals for the next year, and how will you achieve them?

We plan to serve 50 households next year by installing seven (7) to ten (10) peer-to-peer mesh energy networks and rolling out the first version of our LoRaWAN internet infrastructure.

The success of these shall catapult as seek further investments to connect 1000 households in the next five-year roadmap.

We hope to achieve a social and economic impact through the following ways;

> Increase power efficiency
> Zero CO2 emissions
> Amplify scalability.
> Lower maintenance costs (managing the system but the solar energy is free)
> Extra revenue for grid owners and more disposable income to households
> Readily available

> Break the digital divide through LoRaWAN connectivity

Describe the core technology that powers your solution.

For KasanaShare, it takes PaaS and IaaS developed in Node-Red and MQTT protocol for information exchange with the grids and Database for efficiency, predictability, effectiveness, and resilience. The exchange of data and Analytics makes our approach unique with the edge being pushed into Artificial Intelligence, especially in building sustainability in low-resource settings like Uganda. We provide ICT and IoT-enabled cyber-physical infrastructure for peer sharing.

For AMLIIoT the communication cyber-physical infrastructure uses the Konneketd-IoT Swarm Communication as the code name. Here, we deploy Konnekted-Links wireless devices to rapidly create a mesh network on the ground. The Konnekted-Links shall be small Internet of Things (IoT) devices that provide connectivity to consumer electronics either through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and can talk with other Konnekted-Links over LoRa, a long-range and low-power radio. These wireless tech devices can provide off-grid and off-telecom networking when traditional infrastructure is offline. Konnekted-IoT Swarm communication shall assist in connecting behavior patterns and the grid by analyzing cellular congestion based on large events, festivals, sports, and data from sensor networks for improved situational awareness.

Using the Konnekted-IoT and Data Management Systems platform with a simple toolset for visualizing and managing data and activity in a swarm network.

Konnekted-IoT Swarm Communication steps.

Deploy Konnekted-Links; Konnekted-Links can be deployed faster expanding connectivity with other link devices we shall code name Slave-Konnekts in an area. Any activity, transmissions, and data will perfuse on the network to the other gateway link device we shall code, Master-Konnekt which shall link to the World Wide Web.
Use the Data; The Konnekted-IoT using the Data Management Software shall aid in administering and visualizing the activity on the Konnekted-IoT Swarm Communication Network in real-time detailing geographic, sensor and messaging data with the Konnekted IoT Data Management Software.
Get the Data; Data extraction from the Konnekted-IoT Data Management Software can therefore be used for planning and optimizing incident management and visualization.

Konnekted-IoT Swarm communication piles up data to redefine a clear grid operating picture based on behavioral patterns and incidents. Data may come from consumers and prosumers on the Konnekted-IoT Swarm network, Slave-Konnekt or Master-Konnekt sensors and/or external APIs through RSS feeds.

Methodology / Approach

Using the Konnekted-IoT and Data Management Systems platform with a simple toolset for visualizing and managing data and activity in a swarm network.

Konnekted-IoT Swarm Communication steps.

Deploy Konnekted-Links; Konnekted-Links can be deployed faster expanding connectivity with other link devices we shall code name Slave-Konnekts in an area. Any activity, transmissions, and data will perfuse on the network to the other gateway link device we shall code, Master-Konnekt which shall link to the World Wide Web.
Use the Data; The Konnekted-IoT using the Data Management Software shall aid in administering and visualizing the activity on the Konnekted-IoT Swarm Communication Network in real-time detailing geographic, sensor, and messaging data with the Konnekted IoT Data Management Software.
Get the Data; Data extraction from the Konnekted-IoT Data Management Software can therefore be used for planning and optimizing incident management and visualization.

Konnekted-IoT Swarm communication piles up data to redefine a clear grid operating picture based on behavioral patterns and incidents. Data may come from consumers and prosumers on the Konnekted-IoT Swarm network, Slave-Konnekt or Master-Konnekt sensors and external APIs through RSS feed.

Technologies Used

For the Konnekted-Links Hardware, we shall use.

Microcontroller with LoRa Board, 868MHz/915MHz ESP32 SX1276 LoRa 0.96-inch Blue OLED Module which is a Wi-Fi kit series for the development of a cost-effective networking program.
USB Micro-connector
3D printed case enclosure
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

For the Software, we shall use.

Arduino IDE
MQTT
Intel DevCloud
oneAPI
HPC

Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Blockchain
Internet of Things
Software and Mobile Applications

In which countries do you currently operate?

Uganda

How many people does your solution currently serve, and how many do you plan to serve in the next year? If you haven’t yet launched your solution, tell us how many people you plan to serve in the next year.

We haven't yet launched, but we plan to serve 50 households next year by installing seven (7) to ten (10) peer-to-peer mesh energy networks and rolling out the first version of our LoRaWAN internet infrastructure.

The success of these shall catapult as seek further investments to connect 1000 households which on average accommodate 9000 people including small and medium enterprises.

Optimal implementation plan

What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year?

Limited investments in innovation for the Ugandan and African context.

Barriers to financial access especially to Startups led by youths.

Limited awareness due to fewer opportunities for community engagement.

Policy instabilities on net metering and reverse metering.

Your Team

Business Model