Solar power for a Samburu village

The days are short in Unity, a village in the savannah in northern Kenya: It gets dark after sunset because the huts are not connected to the power grid. Community activities? Learning? Homework? Difficult in the dark. And without electricity, there are hardly any opportunities to build up a business there. Because without electricity you can’t charge mobile phones, get information from the internet or refrigerate food. Only Samburu women and their children live in Unity. Their culture gives women and girls hardly any rights, and many of the residents have suffered domestic violence. The village is essentially a shelter, a community of solidarity.

Hanna Full, Senior Consultant Energy & E-Mobility at GP JOULE, met a former resident on a trip to Africa, visited the village – and developed a plan: “Let’s install photovoltaic systems to supply Unity with electricity!” Back in Germany, the 32-year-old founded the “greentech4impact” organisation. She collected donations and began with the project concept. And finally agreed a six-month sabbatical with GP JOULE to bring her plan to life. The Lower Franconia native has been living in Kenya since the beginning of 2025, commuting between the capital Nairobi and Unity.

It all started in February: “The first thing we did was build a hut for the village community. We are now installing a plug & play solar system for off-grid applications there, including battery storage,” reports Full. She and her colleagues from greentech4impact are working together with a Kenyan partner organisation. Support is also provided by local tradesmen who will later take over the maintenance of the system and any repairs. The residents of Unity also lent a hand with constructing the hut.

Solar pump to supply clean water

Thanks to the photovoltaic system, the new communal building will have electric light, a fridge and a computer with an internet connection. This is intended to help women earn more income: “There is a hut in the village that is rented out to guests. The internet connection makes it possible to market this offer more widely,” explains Full. The residents are also considering setting up an online shop for traditional jewellery that they make.

Next on the agenda for Full and her partners is to supply the huts with electricity. “The most important thing is that they get electric light,” says Full. This is a prerequisite for the children to be able to attend school in the neighbouring village. They only have time to study after sunset, as they have to help their mothers with the housework during the day. Last but not least, Full is planning to have a groundwater well with a solar-powered pump built. “Until now, the residents have had to fetch their water from a nearby river. This is tedious and time-consuming. But above all, the water makes the women and children ill because it is very dirty,” she explains. The well is intended to provide clean water and save time, which they can then use for economic activities or school attendance, for example. However, according to Full, the donations raised are not yet sufficient to finance the construction of the well and the solar pump.

Blueprint for further electrification projects

At GP JOULE, Hanna Full from the Berlin office primarily develops concepts for local authorities and companies that want to convert their vehicle fleets to climate-friendly drive systems. A task that does not really have anything to do with the electrification of off-grid regions. So how come she got involved in this area? “The topic has been on my mind since I spent several months in South Africa a few years ago to write my thesis,” explains the industrial engineer. “I saw there how much potential is wasted when people can’t use electricity.”

In the years that followed, Full travelled through Africa several times and experienced other facets of energy poverty there – and also got to know electrification projects. “Since then, the idea of getting involved in this field has grown stronger and stronger. On my first visit to Unity, everything clicked into place: I can be active here!” she says.

The plan is not expected to end in Unity. “We are creating a blueprint here that can be transferred to other villages in Kenya and elsewhere,” Full is convinced. She and her colleagues from greentech4impact do not necessarily want to implement new projects themselves, but rather to make their expertise, experience and contacts available to others. “Anyone in the energy sector who is thinking about setting up such a project themselves: Get in touch with us, we would be happy to support you!”