Thanks to their design and installation of a solar-powered microgrid, a team of students from Ohio brings a stable source of electricity to residents of the Miondwe Ranger Camp in Malawi for the first time
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), more than one billion people worldwide have either limited or no access to electricity – a reality that can significantly impact a community’s health, safety, and economic prosperity, potentially perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty. Such was the situation at the Miondwe Ranger Camp in Kasungu National Park, Malawi, a popular site in central Malawi for camping, safaris, tours, and other recreational activities. With no reliable source of electricity, the six rangers and their families who reside in the park were limited in their ability to work, study, and conduct other household tasks after sunset each night. But thanks to a team of students from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and their EPICS in IEEE project entitled “Sustainable Solar Panel Energy – Malawi,” the solar microgrid they developed now provides the Miondwe Ranger Camp with a reliable and sustainable source of energy that will positively enhance the community’s quality of life for generations to come.
According to Shoma Yukawa, Project Leader and a third year student majoring in electrical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, the team saw their implementation of a solar power-based electricity system at Miondwe Ranger Camp as a key means of supporting the needs of residents there, both personally and professionally.
“Not having access to a stable source of electricity hindered the ability of the six rangers living onsite to fully execute their responsibilities as park rangers,” Yukawa said. “It also created setbacks for the rangers’ family members when they visited and/or lived in the park on a seasonal basis.”
In September 2024, a team of five university students (plus volunteers from IEEE’s Cleveland, OH Section) began designing a solar microgrid — a localized energy system incorporating solar panels that’s designed to serve a specific community — for Miondwe Ranger Camp in partnership with Malawi-based solar contractor Team Planet and the leadership at Kasungu National Park. The team’s design activities included power and loss calculations, a full review of system components and their specifications, and a needs assessment, and culminated in a trip to Malawi so that the students could be onsite for the system’s installation.
But as Yukawa shared, not everything went exactly to plan.
“The components that were supposed to arrive when we were in Malawi didn’t arrive on time due to border custom issues,” Yukawa noted of one of the biggest challenges the team encountered on the project. Pivoting quickly, however, “we decided to use alternative batteries and inverters that were available through our component suppliers, and we were able to conduct solar panel testing to ensure that the panels were working as expected.”
A Powerful Experience
Since the microgrid’s successful installation, the rangers and their family members (30 people in total) gained access to a stable source of electricity, which has improved safety by powering lights after dark and enabled charging and internet access for personal devices for communication and connectivity purposes; this has allowed family members to access information and engage with society and the rangers to fully operate within and maintain the park.
To further support long-term success, the team trained the rangers on the operation and maintenance of the microgrid to ensure that park staff and community members are well-equipped to manage and sustain the new technologies.
According to Yukawa, the student team members benefited tremendously from their involvement in the project.
“Through this experience, we gained the technical skills required to develop a solar panel system from scratch and physically install a solar panel onsite,” Yukawa said. “And on the soft side, this endeavor helped us strengthen our project management and communication skills and build greater respect for and understanding of different cultures.”
Looking ahead, the team plans to utilize the electricity generated 
by the solar-powered system they designed in a separate application to upgrade the Miondwe Ranger Camp’s current manual water pump to an electrically powered one. The team’s “Solar-Powered Water Purification System and Environment Monitoring System” innovation represents a future enhancement that will not only benefit the rangers and their families, but will also significantly improve the lives of 70 families in nearby Zambia who rely on the camp’s pump for their water supply.
“Ultimately, we’re committed to a long-term partnership with Kasungu National Park,” Yukawa said of the role his team hopes to continue playing in Malawi. “Each community and ranger camp has different needs and infrastructures, but we hope to build the necessary system(s) together with the community.”
Yukawa confirmed that none of their project success would have been possible without the support and funding provided by EPICS in IEEE and the Fischer Mertel Community of Projects, which honors the contributions of engineering leaders Joe Fischer and Herb Mertel by supporting students solving community challenges in a tangible way through EPICS in IEEE.
“Without the support we received from EPICS in IEEE and the Fischer Mertel Community of Projects, we wouldn’t have been able to complete this project,” Yukawa confirmed. “As future engineers, this experience helped us see how our technical training can be applied to solve real-world problems. It was an honor to receive the opportunity to conduct this project in Malawi, where we were able to positively impact the community through the engineering skills we’ve learned.”
“We truly appreciate IEEE’s support for this project,” Yukawa added, “and we plan to continue our long-term commitment to our partnership with Kasungu National Park to help ensure the community’s sustainable development.”
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