A UK based Computer Company Aleutia is going to build solar classroom project in Kenya’s 47 cities which is said to be the country’s largest solar class room roll out till date. This project will facilitate over 20000 primary school children.
Aleutica is a company focusing on healthcare and education solution in developing countries, working on Solar Classroom in a Box project since 2013. The purpose of this project is to provide everything in one room required for a solar classroom in one packing. It includes energy efficient computers, cabling and solar panels. The company director Mike Rosenberg told that initial idea was to recycle old shipping containers but it required a different approach.
“The problem we discovered was that the local supply of containers was very cheap but typically rusty and retrofitting and adapting them was expensive,” explains Rosenberg. “Transport costs for a flatbed truck are very high and [costs are] even higher for a crane, which is required to lower [the containers] onto a foundation. So we pivoted.”
Aleutia and University of Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture are working together on this project, to develop a structure which is insulated, low cost easily transportable and scalable. The classroom is made from local material such as concrete blocks and a wavy tin roof and light gauge steel frame.
These classroom can be easily transportable as can fit on single pallet. These classrooms can be shifted through one cattle truck. No crane is required for installation because design is so simple.
