At the Technology Salon on Rural Power Solutions for the Developing World, Eric Youngren of Solar Nexus International started us off with the basics, where I learned was the difference between power and energy:

• Power is the instantaneous creation and use of electricity - what is needed right now to power an electronic device, and is expressed in watts or kilowatts.
• Energy is the storage of power for use over time, and is expressed in watt-hours or kilowatt hours.

We quickly moved from understanding a common lexicon to how electrical costs can add up quickly in the developing world.

Sizing Solar Power Systems

Eric Youngren's Solar Nexus

With a real-world example from Ashoka's e Health Point, Eric led us through a sizing exercise to understand what uses electricity and how much that usage costs - in power creation (solar panels), energy storage (batteries) and power consumption (electronic devices).

Now there is much math that is needed to size a solar panel array to meet energy storage and power consumption needs - everything from the efficiency of the solar panel to the site's geographic location. You can get a sense of this by using Matt Berg's Off-Grid Solar Calculator, though its best to have a trained professional do the sizing.

There are numerous efforts around making both the solar panel sizing and deployment easier - from companies building modular turnkey solutions to others devising pay-as-you go financing. Luis Antonio Vargas of World Vision International even talked of "smart grids", where individual homeowners and businesses could feed into and take from a combined electrical system.

Capacity Building

But before we get to that, there is a great need for more solar power skills and knowledge at the local level in the developing world. Programs like Barefoot Solar Engineers are not enough to expand the use of renewable energy sources.

There is a need for both capacity building and standardization across the power marketplace, to truly make these systems sustainable. Or as one participant said, "Solar systems last 20 years - we need to plan in decades, not project cycles."

I was honored that Eric referenced the Inveneo Certified ICT Partner program as a model for his efforts in building local solar power capacity - our mix of training, certification, and income opportunities for local technology partners. Yet, regardless of the model, the need is great, for electrical power and the skills to deploy it in the developing world.

Electrical power is key for an ICT deployment - and many other basic services as well. Yet it is often the main barrier to deployment because often it simply doesn't exist in rural and underserved areas, or "off-grid" locations. If electrical systems do exist, they can be expensive, intermittent, and unreliable. In short, there is a shortage of electrical power in the developing world, which is holding back everyone's efforts.

For the October Technology Salon, we'll heard about two efforts to create reliable rural electrical systems to power us past this challenge from Luis Antonio Vargas and Lou August from WVI and Eric Youngren of SNI:

1. World Vision International has identified the strategic opportunity to leverage its community model to develop small-scale alternative energy solutions together with strategic partners. These power solutions can provide immediate response for our basic energy needs and provide a long-term vision on sustainable models for communities to understand the technology and market trends, and own local infrastructure development roadmaps.


2. Solar Nexus International is trying to build the market infrastructure for the off-grid and grid-backup solar PV industry in the developing world, which has a natural synergy with ICT4D efforts. Both the industries need capacity building in distribution, design, installation, and service for installers and a financing and education plan for users.

How to Power Progress: Electrical Solutions for the Developing World
Thursday, October 21st, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Ave, 5th Floor
Washington DC (map)

We'll have hot coffee and Krispe Kreme donuts for a morning rush, but seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP for the Salon will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist. We're already full - be sure to subscribe to our email list to get invites in time to join us.

At the How Peer-to-Peer University is Hacking Higher Education Technology Salon in San Francisco, Philipp Schmidt discussed his Peer 2 Peer University initiative, an innovative approach to further the reach and impact of higher education.

The initial concept stemmed from the idea of creating peer groups to help each other out through open-source education materials like MIT's Open Courseware, in a fun engaging method.

However, through P2PU's flexible business model and Philipp's entrepreneurial character, P2PU quickly evolved to become more. P2PU now offers peers to teach over 30 different courses to 500+ other peers online from subjects such as software skills, to music theory introduction, to finance.

And while Philipp expected most courses to be built around MIT Open Courseware, in fact, peers have taken the classes in a whole other direction, with much greater variety. The more interesting and popular courses are "Kitchen Science" base don an MIT chemistry course, "School of Webcraft" with the Mozilla Foundation, and "Copyrights for Educators" developed by P2PU peers.

P2PU offers capacity building for peers who lead courses, though they are still trying to find a good name for the lead peers, without giving them titles that denote too much post (such as professor) as the educational model is still peer learning vs. top-down learning.

For learners, the draw of attending P2PU vs. a traditional university is its online convenience; coupled with intimate, peer learning. P2PU is also looking at offering credentials, such as Mozilla-branded web development certificates and adult education credits from the University of California at Irvine.

For Philipp, the challenge is scale and sustainability. P2PU is attempting several models to exponentially increase enrollment, such as requiring each new attendee to bring a friend. Sustainability could be met through a mix of income from the credentialed courses and by direct user fees for those that have the means and capacity to pay. Or via funding from renewed foundation interest in online education.

P2PU is already having an impact. Its attendees have shifted from the techno-elite of North America to the teeming millions in Brazil and India who would otherwise never have the opportunity for higher education.