CEWAG Holds Workshop for Renewable Energy Sources in Gambia
A workshop on climate change and renewable energy was held in early August by the Gambian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology in collaboration with the University of the Gambia.
The aim was to explore the potential for creating jobs for young people in the solar industry and to improve the availability and affordability of solar power for homes and farms across the country.
The workshop is part of the "Clean Energy and Water for Gambia (CEWAG)" project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The project, which will run until 2021, aims to investigate the conditions necessary for developing renewable energy in the Gambia and will prepare promising pilot projects with the support of two preliminary studies.
The first pilot project will investigate self-cleaning surfaces for solar panels. The climatic conditions in the Gambia mean there are often dust and sand drifts that can contaminate the surfaces of solar panels.This significantly reduces the panels' energy yield. Self-cleaning solar panels would prevent the need for time-consuming cleaning by hand and the damage to the panels that often comes with it.
The second preliminary study will clarify the geographic and technical prerequisites for water treatment plants run on photovoltaics in the Gambia. This will allow remote regions that lack both the required treatment plants and an electricity infrastructure to provide themselves with their own clean drinking water locally. In addition, support will be provided to train young people in renewable energy at the University of the Gambia.
The Project
Project name: Clean Energy and Water for Gambia Phase I – Feasibility and Network Development (CEWAG)
Project partners:
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- University of the GambiaWest African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL)
Duration: 15.04.2019 – 15.10.2021