Interconnection of microgrids for emerging economies

Jonathan Bowes

We plan to use the £4,300 funding to continue to develop our idea by creating and testing hardware prototypes of our controller and undertaking initial market assessment work in Rwanda.

The Iberdrola-Scottish Power Entrepreneurial Challenge competition is a yearly competition for students at all levels within Strathclyde.

Teams are challenged to develop novel business ideas aligning with the interests of Iberdrola and present over three stages to a panel of academics, entrepreneurs and industry experts, with successful teams progressing to the following stage. After each stage, the remaining companies had access to an increasing pool of seed funding, beginning at £300 and rising to a total of £4,300 for the final three teams.

I took part in the challenge, forming a team called Smart Grids for Development with fellow PhD student Bartosz Soltowski. Our idea was a commercial application of our research, connecting together existing domestic solar installations in developing countries to create a peer to peer energy trading network. The goal is to increase system reliability and reduce cost of energy for consumers. We already had a good technical analytical simulations and but the challenge allowed us to move beyond just the technology and think about the wider context of our work, including business models, target markets, funding, legal considerations and finances. We also gained the support and mentorship of Shaf Rasul, one of the dragons from the online version of the BBC's Dragons Den. 

Progressing through the three rounds, we were encouraged to dig deeper into each of these areas, receiving training from IP lawyers, experienced entrepreneurs, public speaking experts and more. After a hard fought final at Scottish Power headquarters in Glasgow, our team won, receiving the grand prize of a trip to Madrid to take part in Iberdrola’s international innovation week.

We plan to use the £4,300 funding to continue to develop our idea by creating and testing hardware prototypes of our controller and undertaking initial market assessment work in Rwanda.