Capacity Building through Developing Materials for Solar Cells in Africa

Narrative

Developing materials for solar cells was a capacity building programme for the Royal Society in African Institutions. The overall aim of the science aspect of the project was the development of processes toward electronic semiconductors, with properties similar to silicon, which can be used in applications such as the photovoltaic generation of electricity and water purification. Research was funded with a four-centre grant in Developing Materials for Solar Cells and engaged a consortium of sub-Saharan African universities. UoM’s role was to manage the research taking place at the various African Universities, to plan visits of the students to use the facilities at Manchester, to academically advise visiting African students whilst they are at UoM, and to compile reports and budgets for annual and 6-month reporting annually.

By the end of the programme 8 PhD students were graduated, with well over 20 publications in internationally recognised journals. The programme also successfully exported powder X-ray diffractometers to institutions in Cameroon and Ghana – the first examples of this type of capital equipment in those countries. This was a watershed moment for those institutions, as it will for the first time allow them to structurally characterise their solar materials in-house. A microwave-Raman system (one of only ca 4 in the world) was exported to the South African institution so that they will have world leading research capability.

Furthermore, a tailored capacity building plan for each African institution was developed in collaboration with Prof Imelda Bates’ research group at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The University was asked to contribute feedback from the academic work in the RS-FCDO capacity building programme. This aimed to influence future FCDO schemes and pass lessons learned during the programme directly to senior civil servants from FCDO. This will directly influence foreign aid policy regarding future capacity building initiatives led by the UK Government. For this work, in 2021 the project was recognised by UoM with the award of a ‘Making a Difference Award for Social Responsibility’ at the commended level.

Impact date	2015 → 2022
Category of impact	Economic, Environmental, Health and wellbeing, Policy, Awareness and understanding, Attitudes and behaviours, Society and culture, Technological