IEEE's Empower A Billion Lives Competition Names Twenty-Three Global Finalists
ATLANTA, April 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-three teams from around the world have been named Global Finalists in IEEE's Empower a Billion Lives, an innovation competition to identify and promote cutting-edge, high-impact solutions to extreme poverty and lack of access to energy in the developing world. Having succeeded in two previous stages of Empower a Billion Lives - including regional "pitch" competitions, the last of which was at IEEE Power Electronics Society's Decentralized Energy Access Solutions workshop in Atlanta - these teams will now undertake a field test to prove their solutions in advance of the Global Final in Baltimore in September of this year.
"We hope Empower a Billion Lives will accomplish a lot of vetting and due diligence in the energy access market, and let investors and other interested parties identify great companies to work with," said Dr. Deepak Divan, Empower a Billion Live's Chair. "We also want to give innovative teams the resources and profile they need to succeed."
Billions around the world live in severe energy poverty, largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Clean, affordable energy dramatically improves standards of living and prosperity, driving social and economic development. IEEE Empower a Billion Lives provides a platform for multi-disciplinary teams to develop and demonstrate cost-effective energy access technologies and business models that bring 21(st) century technologies to the rural poor.
More than four hundred and fifty teams registered for Empower a Billion Lives, and more than one hundred and seventy proposals were accepted and reviewed. Of those, proposals from eighty-three teams were approved by expert reviewers and invited to attend one of five regional competitions.
The twenty-three Global Finalists offer compelling, state-of-the-art innovations, and include:
Team Name
Home Country
Empower A Billion Lives
Competition Region
---
Entrepreneurs du Monde & Okra
France
Pacific Asia
---
Nanoé
Madagascar
Africa
---
SoULS Initiative, IIT Bombay
India
South Asia
---
Xpower - Next Generation Micro-Grids
United States
Americas
---
AgroHub
Nepal
South Asia
---
APOLLO
Taiwan
Pacific Asia
---
Baobab+
France
Europe
---
Bombay Bijlee
India
South Asia
---
Café Lumière
Madagascar
Africa
---
Cygni Energy
India
South Asia
---
Dream Grid
China
Pacific Asia
---
FDU Lighting Up
China
Pacific Asia
---
GreenSpark
China
Pacific Asia
---
Havenhill Synergy Limited
Nigeria
Africa
---
Perryman & Energime University
United States
Americas
---
POWER@NUS
Singapore
South Asia
---
Reeddi
Canada
Americas
---
Simusolar
Tanzania
Africa
---
Smart Grids Lab
Scotland
Europe
---
Solageo & Partners
Hong Kong
Pacific Asia
---
Solaris Offgrid
Spain
Europe
---
SolarWorX
Germany
Europe
---
Winnie the Power
Canada
Americas
---
For further information on Empower A Billion Lives and the twenty-three Global Finalist teams, please visit empowerabillionlives.org.
About IEEE
IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at www.ieee.org.
About The IEEE Power Electronics Society
The IEEE Power Electronics Society has over 30 years of facilitating and guiding the development and innovation in the control of electrical power for a wide variety of consumer, commercial, industrial, utility, transportation and renewable energy applications.
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SOURCE IEEE
