Solar PV from Samsung Brings Computing to African Schoolrooms

Here’s an article that speaks to a few concepts that are near to my heart: using solar PV to bring computing to a schoolroom, made from a repurposed shipping container, located in rural Africa. Congratulations to Samsung for making this happen.

My only advice for improvement is to replace the entire front wall with some sort of transparent plastic (like the one shown here); studies show that kids learn better when they are not closed off in little rooms.

I suppose they could also use a small bit of the PV to power the micro-pump in an aeroponics tower, growing organic produce next to the classroom with very little water.  In addition to the value of the produce itself, I’ve always liked the fact that there is a ton of science to teach with aeroponics.  Obviously, we have all the concepts associated with botany and sustainable agriculture, but we also have things like the conservation of the energy used to circulate the water (solar energy in the form of incident photons becomes electrical energy which becomes mechanical energy in the pump, which becomes potential energy in the water at the top of the tower, which becomes kinetic energy as the water falls).

We have the conservation in the growing of the produce (solar energy is used in photosynthesis to create high-energy chemicals, which, when we consume them, become the energy that enables all our bodily functions).

While we’re at it, why not grow extra vegetables, sell them, and learn about basic accounting and economics?