It is hard to fully appreciate the extent to which electricity simplifies our lives until the power goes out and we are unable to illuminate our homes, use our microwaves, and charge our cellphones. However, about 1.2 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity, many of them living in small rural communities throughout the world. Members of Seattle University's Electrical and Computer Engineering department have founded the non-profit organization KiloWatts for Humanity to help bring power to rural villages around the world. In Filibaba, Zambia, the organization has installed microgrids that power energy kiosks using solar panels The kiosks will give community members the ability to charge their appliances and light sources and bring electricity into their homes through these electronics. The students also designed a microgrid for a small village in Kenya, illuminating a town that had been without power for years.
Video produced by Seattle University about the design and installment of a hybrid wind- and solar-power micro-grid system in Muhuru Bay, Kenya.