Mon, 20 January, 2025
Nanoé Madagascar SARL is a company that develops nano-grids; collective solar systems that deliver power to 4-6 households, and counts some 70 field-staff across five offices in the North of Madagascar. Since 2017, Nanoé has deployed >3,000 of these solar nano-grids, connecting > 12,000 users in >500 villages of the Diana, Sava and Sofia regions.
Nanoé will draw on its significant operational and field-needs experience, for PowerPath, having already trained 150+ nano-entrepreneurs. It also brings a wealth of research and development (R&D) expertise to the project, having successfully participated in several collaborative research initiatives over the last few years, dedicated to access to renewable energy in Africa including the Energy Catalyst IMPHORAA, H2020 LEAP-RE and ENERGICA projects.
In late 2022, Nanoé delivered a proof of concept (POC) for the smart DC/DC converter technology that will be further developed as part of the PowerPath project, thanks to the commissioning of a first DC balancing micro-grid that interconnects 25 nano-grids in the village of Ambohimena. This POC resulted in Nanoé winning the ‘Empower a Billion Lives’ global competition organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
On PowerPath, Nanoé will lead the:
- Nano-grid interconnection module development and deployment, reviewing the electronic and mechanical parts of the module to move it from technology readiness level (TRL) 5 to 7. The objective will be to improve the integration of all sub-components, including assessment of the board routing, and the robustness and ergonomics of the casing.
- Tasks related to improving the lead-acid ‘battery state of charge’ estimation algorithm, and field deployment in collaboration with project partner the University of Leicester.
- Business and social model upgrade.