UNESCO Partners With Armor To Equip Pupils In Africa With Portable Lamps
90 million primary school children in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity; a basic requirement which is significant in improving learning outcomes in schools.
In a bid to provide a solution to this problem, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has partnered with a French company, Armor to provide photovoltaic films that will be used to power the portable lamps.
The photovoltaic films will then be distributed to some African students. The innovation has been successfully tested and is a pilot project that will be a part of a broader plan to be implemented under a partnership.
The UNESCO initiative is expected to provide 212 primary school pupils in Togo with rechargeable mobile lamps to enable them to revise easily as well as attend evening lessons.
The French-based company will provide these schools with 65 Solar sets, and 240 portable and rechargeable LED lamps. The solar sets have been designed in a way that makes it chargeable by sunlight.
Armor’s skill in coating thermal transfer ribbons made this innovation possible. The company has adapted the technique to produce a flexible and competitive organic photovoltaic film.
According to Armor, this new generation low-carbon photovoltaic film is the result of a low-energy, silicon-free manufacturing process that uses no other rare or toxic resources. The photovoltaic film is currently present in South Africa and Morocco. The current focus is however in Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.
Reports indicate that the company has also opened a site in Nairobi, Kenya and has dispatched a business developer Adrien Ranchon.
Togo among many African countries have challenges in regards to electricity access. Last year, the country recorded a 45 percent electricity access. The country envisions to reach 90 percent electricity access in 2030.
