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.