All nominees:

Nominee I

Submitted by: FAROOQUI foundation
Nation: Bangladesh
Project: Project Solar multi-user solar system

Portable solar power

In Bangladesh the day ends at 6 p.m. as the villages go dark. Without a source of light, working and reading are impossible: 75% of households in rural Bangladesh are not connected to the grid. Rifat Turja of the FAROOQUI foundation sought a solution to this problem – and suddenly he saw daylight. According to the motto “Think simply and always positively“, he developed his Multi-User Solar System.

Instead of mounting expensive solar panels on each house, a central photovoltaic base station is installed. It serves as the solar fueling station for the whole village. There the inhabitants draw solar energy with a portable battery that is charged in three to four hours. The integrated LED lamps then bring light into darkness four hours a day for a whole week. Then the 1/2-kilogram lightweight, which even children can carry easily, is recharged. Utilizing the system costs nothing, and setup costs per household are less than 25% of a stand-alone solution. Now the houses have light. This means a better future for the children, who can now do their homework.

Portable solar power provides energy for the world, can be used everywhere, and is economical. This is energy for the future!

Nominee II

Submitted by: Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal
Nation: Nepal
Project: Program to improve water-powered mills in Nepal

Better mills for a better life

In Nepal the traditional water-powered mill, or ghatta , is a part of everyday life. Likewise traditional are the problems of rural life: hard work and insufficient income. Agrarian economist Lumin Ram Shrestha has been working for over 40 years with low-income communities: “We must look at what we have rather than planning for what we do not have!” Thus ensued his idea that traditional water-powered mills must be improved.

His plan was implemented by the Centre for Rural Technology. The wooden water wheel and vanes were replaced by metal and power transfer was optimized. Further, the shape of the new vanes improves their performance. This enables more efficient milling of corn, hulling rice, oil extraction – and above all power production. This provides a new energy source for villages to replace the old diesel generators. The success of the program speaks for itself: In the past seven years 5000 old mills have been renovated and 250,000 households in rural Nepal have profited directly.

Nominee III

Submitted by: Statoil ASA New Energy, Wind Energy
Nation: Norway
Project: Next Generation Wind Technology

Floating power plant

Wind energy is environmentally friendly and sustainable. However, neighboring residents often complain about the loud rotors, and with insufficient wind the turbines can be at a standstill for hours or days. On the open sea there is almost always a breeze and the noise does not bother anyone. “Optimal conditions for a wind power plant,” thought Gunnar Nielsen. No sooner said than done: The ocean technology pioneer began to develop the world’s first floating wind power plant on behalf of Statoil ASA New Energy, Wind Energy. The development work for the ambitious project took ten years. The most challenging problem was to securely anchor the power plant even in the strongest winds. The solution was a floating steel body with three anchor columns attached securely to the ocean floor.

In autumn 2009 the pilot plant off Norway’s west coast was connected to the grid and has since delivered constant eco-power from wind energy. The plant is anchored at 200 meters depth. Its dimensions are impressive: alone the diameter of the rotors is 82.4 meters.

Thanks to the new technology, now offshore wind farms can be installed with ocean depths of 120 to 700 meters, providing a nearly unlimited potential for ecological and sustainable energy and a true wind of change.