Email Address:

adesmon1@vols.utk.edu

Country: USA

Faculty Advisor: Jie Zhuang

Institution: University of Tennessee

Program of Study: Biosystems and Soil Engineering

Bio:

My name is Aaron Desmond and I am a Business Management major from Franklin Tennessee. After switching from Architecture in my sophomore year I was brought the opportunity to participate in this program and it has been a great way to broaden my perspective and I think it has been a great way for me to learn how to bring a sustainable mindset into a business environment.”

Abstract

Africa has 600 million people that live without electricity. The people that do, experience common outages. Africa also has a middle class between 18% and 30% which affects their economy and overall well-being. With decentralized energy sources, people would no longer have to rely on an unreliable sole source while it would also allow for a more progressive development of infrastructure in more rural areas. In a recent study it was found that Nigeria is suitable for such systems while others were not due to various factors. In conclusion, these systems show potential but are limited by policy and funding