Looks already funded, but I developed Android apps from 2014-2018 and have done solar work (including in Africa). If it'd help to run any ideas/questions past someone with somewhat relevant experience, feel free to reach out
4
Funding for Solar4Africa app development
ActiveGrant
$500raised
$500funding goal
Project summary
I am a 19 year old software developer, trained by the Techtonica coding bootcamp, with practical dev experience from projects I've worked on this year. These include: CageFreeHub commits (https://github.com/Yellow987/CageFreeHub), the Solar4Africa Android App (https://github.com/sophia-pung/solar4AfricaAndroidApp), a game called Marbles that I created the rules and code for myself (https://github.com/sophia-pung/WNRSxPrisonersDilemma), the Scalable Oversight Alignment Jam I won with Gabe Mukobi (https://github.com/sophia-pung/ScaleOversight), the Wordlist attack I implemented to discover Atlas vulnurabilites (https://github.com/sophia-pung/AtlasScraping), and a two player version of Conway's game of life for the Run and Run() [https://twitter.com/kylejohnmorris/status/1614147239705972736?s=20] hackathon (https://github.com/sophia-pung/gameOfLife). I am seeking funding to supplement my work on this project for two weeks over the next month.
I worked with two other students this semester at UC Berkeley to code the Android app which we got working on a newer Android phone. It was able to track GPS and send data back to the website (https://github.com/sophia-pung/solar4africa). However, the phones that are going to be used have a lower Android OS and are not functional with the current code. I need to re-write some of the code and test with new phones to get the app functional before Robert deploys the phones into the Solar Cars at the beginning of this August. I plan to code the app from July 20th, through July 27th. Counterfactually I would use this time to do freelance work to afford travel costs to and from Outernet (https://outernet.hackclub.com/)- where I hope to engage with the HackClub community and build an 8-bit computer from scratch, a precursor to drone hardware work I plan to do this fall as an upcoming freshman in college.
More information about the Solar4Africa project:
The Solar4Africa project (https://www.solar4africa.org/), started out as a small social enterprise working in Malawi called Kuyere! (which means "let there be light!"). Kuyere! was founded by Bereket Lebassi Habtezion (BLH) and Robert Van Buskirk (RVB) in 2015 with the support of a wonderful group of family and friends and in partnership with Laurence Kachione in Malawi.
After testing dozens of different solar electricity technologies and business models in partnership with diverse Malawian collaborators, Kuyere! discovered over time how to provide extremely low-cost solar electricity to very low income Malawian villagers. The solution?: Provide Malawi-made solar systems that use "forever batteries" that can potentially last 10 to 20 years., or provide solar systems that don't batteries at all.
"Forever batteries" use Lithium Titanate (LTO) battery chemistry which is more expensive and than other batteries chemistries, but which has a cycle life of 10,000 to 30,000 cycles. Meaning that they can potentially last 10 to 20 years or more.
In 2021, the Kuyere! project expanded the application of LTO batteries to cooking and solar electric vehicles and now has a portfolio of four key technologies and systems: (1) Forever lights, (2) Portable, battery-free solar pump systems for grassroots village groups, (3) Solar home systems with cookers that have LTO batteries, and (4) Solar electric vehicles with LTO batteries.
Project goals
By the end of next week, I plan to have a functional app uploaded to the Android phone of choice (selected by Tim, our project coordinator during the semester). The code will be public on GitHub and I will have documented a functional demo.
How will this funding be used?
The funding will be used for my travel to and from Outernet so that I can spend my time this week working on the project, and attend the event that will connect me to an awesome community and give me practical hardware skills.
What is your (team's) track record on similar projects?
I coded a functional version of the App on an Android phone during the spring semester.
How could this project be actively harmful?
Funding this project could be harmful if the app is not coded on time, or the app is missued by end users.
What other funding is this person or project getting?
I currently am funded by the Taco Bell Live Mas scholarship, and am in the process of applying to Emergent Ventures and the Atlas Fellowship.
Rachel Weinberg
over 2 years ago
Giving this admin approval because it's legal for us to fund, within Manifund's scope, and low downside.
Some of my personal thoughts: the cheapness + concreteness of this is pretty cool, and it seems like the type of this Manifund is particularly well-suited to fund, since it’s such a small ask and you need funding fast! Also didn’t know Taco Bell gave scholarships. That is wild and awesome.
Since I’ve been reading a bunch of these proposals lately, I have some advice on how you could improve the writeup*, which I mostly wrote before Austin funded it but I figure why not share anyway:
The project summary is the first thing people see, and should be short (1 paragraph) and to the point about what you’re actually going to do: your background is important (and something people often under include!) but first I want to know what you’re going to do, what it will accomplish, and maybe why you think that matters. You don’t start talking about what the app does until about the third paragraph, and even then there’s not a single sentence that’s a really clear summary of it. That should be your first sentence.
Then include your background in the track record section. Also btw, like Notion, you can highlight text and then paste a link to create a hyperlink, and type dash + space to create bullet points. Seems useful for formatting the list of past projects.
Maybe I’m particularly clueless, but as someone with no hardware experience, the connection between the solar systems/batteries and your app isn’t obvious to me. What role do the phones pay in the solar cars? Assume your audience is clueless about technical details and spell out in plain terms the connection between what you’re doing and the final product.
*Mostly this is stuff that the I/the UI should have made more clear in the first place, like what exactly the prompts mean and what formatting the editor allows. Also thinking I should write up a grant-writing advice doc and link it from the create project page.
Sophia Pung
over 2 years ago
Hi Rachel, this is all really helpful advice. I will incorporate this into future funding requests that I make both here- and for other applications.
I will use keyboard shortcuts next time I create a post to highlight important details.
Here is the page from Solar4Africa (I was working on Project #3- that specifically highlights the connection between the software and the hardware).
Project Description: Solar4Africa.org distributes small solar cars in rural Malawi and subsidizes rural villages which lease the vehicles and use them for local transportation services. To collect donations to help subsidize solar car use, data on vehicle use and operation needs to be collected, preferably in real time.
It is therefore desirable to have a cell phone that can be placed in the vehicle that can collect location and usage data in Malawi and that can be periodically called from the US for data downloads.
Project Tasks: Given an unlocked android phone, the phone needs to be configured and/or programmed to continuously collect and store location data. Develop software with appropriate security features that allows the phone to be called to initiate and execute a data download. The solution cannot assume a regular internet connection or continuous cell service for the location monitoring phone. The solution should minimize cost, maximize simplicity, and should not assume availability or access to specific third-party software.
Thank you both for you support and I will post an update with project progress and the app demo once complete. I look forward to continue working on this project!
donated $500
Austin Chen
over 2 years ago
Funding this as:
I've previously had the opportunity of cohosting an EA hackathon with Sophia following EAG Bay Area; she was conscientious and organized, and I'd happily cohost something again
I'm personally excited about supporting more concrete software development within the EA sphere, on the margin (compared to eg research papers)
The ask is quite low ($500), and the project promises to be both fast (lasting a week) and soon (by Jul 27); I really like the ethos of moving quickly on a small budget.
I don't have specific insights into Solar4Africa, but I'm curious to see the results!
Sophia Pung
over 2 years ago
Thank you Austin!! I look forward to sharing results, thank you for funding my work.