Humanitarian, Natural Building, Solar
Tamale, Ghana
Winter 2014

Solar charging center

Community-Centered Design

Through the guidance of the nonprofit Saha Global, my team and I collaborated with a rural village called Takpili to build a solar charging center. We worked closely with the chief, elders, and four female community members to set up and run the solar charging center.

We worked with the entire village to build an earthen hut to house the charging center. Kids helped gather large rocks to be turned into bricks, men crushed a mud mixture with their feet to create bricks to dry in the sun, women coated the hut in cement to keep the rain out.

After building the hut, we taught Lasiche, Mariama, Ayishetu and Rachiya how to wire up the solar panels and generator. We explained the basics of account keeping and helped them decide on a price to sell each recharged battery and cellphone charge for.

When then individually spoke to every household in the village (all 80 of them!) about the program. We charged 1 Cedi (33 cents) per household for a lantern (originally $20) and told them about the opening day for the charging center. Every single household we spoke to was happy to participate in the program, even the traveling Fulani (Nomadic traders and cattle herders) on the outskirts of the village.

When the opening day came, we stepped back and watched the women do a wonderful job of running the center - tallying the sales, switching out the old batteries, and charging cellphones. We watched in amazement as one by one households began to light up in the darkness.

Now over 600 people in Takpili have access to renewable light and electricity.

Working in Takpili was an absolutely wonderful experience. I made so many great friends, was humbled by the ingenuity and kindness of locals, and learned the power of entrepreneurship.

Branding

Prior to getting to Ghana, I completely fundraised my trip and the supplies for the solar charging center. For this, I created a crowdrise and social media video campaign which was successfully funded within 10 days of launching. Below are some of the graphics.