The Turing Trust design team for the SolarBerry comprised 4 retired professionals who are members of Currie Balerno Rotary Club.
The design details were reviewed and confirmed by Buro Happold Engineering. This included a SolarBerry PV, Thermal and Structural Feasibility Study and the production of the 3D model you can see below.
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Design Features
Solar Panels
The SolarBerry will be powered by solar panels as a more reliable and cost efficient energy source. The fame angle is optimized to provide the best energy supply throughout the year.
Raspberry Pi
The SolarBerry will host 11 raspberry pi computers that demand only 4W of power yet provide all the necessary functions of a desktop computer, including access to a wide range of educational resources. They are connected to low energy monitors, using only 11W to ensure that there is enough energy stored at the end of the day to allow the community to use the SolarBerry in the evenings.
Shade Cloth
The shade cloth prevents direct sunlight heating up the SolarBerry container while allowing air to flow under drawing the warm air away from the inside.
Exterior
Highly reflective white paint will help keep the temperature inside the SolarBerry at an acceptable level.
SolarBerry Monitoring
The SolarBerry Monitoring System is a web-based tool that will gather a number of metrics about the performance of the SolarBerry and display this both real-time and historically. This tool will integrate fully with the existing learning material available through RACHEL and so allow students to access the information in the context of educational videos and articles on solar power already available. Furthermore, this monitoring can aid in the diagnosis of any performance issues and handle any low-battery conditions through safely shutting down apparatus as required.
Andrew Clark, a trustee of the Turing Trust who led the design, talks about some of the challenges here:
We have also tested prototypes successfully in Edinburgh and Manchester.
We have already established working computer laboratories in Ghana with networked Raspberry Pis. These are at Dodowa, Tatale and Zabzugu ICCES and allow students to access the wealth of learning resources available in RACHEL.
There is still plenty to do to get the benefits of our solar-powered computer labs to other communities in Malawi, so please do support our work. If you would like to keep up with the progress of the SolarBerry, then please sign up for our newsletter.
Related links
Why a SolarBerry?
Where is the SolarBerry?
Progress with the SolarBerry
