29/01/15

PhDs in Focus: Harnessing the sun to power a Malawian island

By: Jon Spaull

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<h1>PhDs in Focus: Harnessing the sun to power a Malawian island</h1>
<h4>By: Jon Spaull</h4>
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	<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="LakeMalawi" fileid="54C58513-B458-477B-9E5EAB03F583F33F" height="293" data-src="/wp-content/uploads/site_assets/global/LakeMalawi.jpg" width="240" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 240px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 240/293;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="LakeMalawi" fileid="54C58513-B458-477B-9E5EAB03F583F33F" height="293" data-src="/wp-content/uploads/site_assets/global/LakeMalawi.jpg" width="240" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 240px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 240/293;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="LakeMalawi" fileid="54C58513-B458-477B-9E5EAB03F583F33F" height="293" src="/wp-content/uploads/site_assets/global/LakeMalawi.jpg" width="240" /></noscript></noscript></figure>
<p>PhD student Collen Zalengera is from a poor rural community in Malawi. He is the first member of his family to be <a href="https://www.scidev.net/communication/education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">educated</a> to secondary level. In this film, he speaks about the problems he encountered in trying to conduct his research in Malawi, talks about the benefits of studying at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and explains why solar power may be the future of the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/environment/energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">energy</a> sector in Malawi.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.scidev.net/article-series.africas-phd-renaissance.html"><em>This is part of the Africa’s PhD Renaissance series funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York</em>.</a></p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/multimedia/harnessing-sun-power-malawian-island/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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PhD student Collen Zalengera is from a poor rural community in Malawi. He is the first member of his family to be educated to secondary level. In this film, he speaks about the problems he encountered in trying to conduct his research in Malawi, talks about the benefits of studying at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and explains why solar power may be the future of the energy sector in Malawi.

This is part of the Africa’s PhD Renaissance series funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.