The Green Stealth Network

The Green Stealth Network is building resilient food systems across Africa by adopting a communal-enterprising model where successful projects provide capital and leverage their resources to help new ventures.

The theory of change for our ecosystem is to develop solutions or products that improve food production and quality. As these solutions become successful, they remit a fraction of their profit to fund new projects, innovation, and research within our labs. Those likely to be interested in our initiative are young founders who want to use community-based advantages to build their products. Our first project, the P Solar project, housed at the Nano Research Lab at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is a sustainable material research committed to making solar wafers more affordable to smallholder farmers.

We develop high-performance solar cells using perovskites (PSCs), which will make solar panels low cost and more affordable to rural Nigerian farmers. We manufacture these PSCs using the drop-casting method. This simple fabrication process involves the formation of a thin solid film by dropping a solution of lead iodide and methyl-ammonium iodide onto a fluorine doped-tin oxide slide. Then, the electron transport layer and a metal contact (Au) layer are connected to produce the current. These perovskites solar cells enable decentralized clean energy generation to power farm facilities.

As the rising population drive up demand for food, Africa will struggle if it does not produce enough food for its people because hunger negatively impacts people's capacity to produce. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that almost 690 million people are hungry, an increase of about 60 million in the last five years. By 2050, the world will need to produce roughly 70% more food to feed a projected 9 billion people, making the food security vulnerability even more complex. As ocean health deteriorates, biodiversity stretched dangerously thin, and agricultural yields dwindles, our food systems will need significant investments to sustain current yields, enhance production and food quality to satisfy demand. Hence, stakeholders must collaborate to create mechanisms to address these food security challenges. 

As much as climate change threatens agriculture, the problem also works in reverse. Agriculture is a significant part of the climate problem. According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector presently account for 19–29% of global GHG emissions and a third of total emissions in sub-Saharan Africa. If we do nothing, that percentage might skyrocket as other industries reduce their emissions. To reduce the effects of climate change and boost the yields of smallholder farms in Nigeria, we must establish sustainable, integrated energy systems in rural communities. This inspired us to develop a low-cost, high-performance perovskite solar wafers to meet the necessary energy needs for sustainable agriculture.

The continued underinvestment in electricity infrastructure harms businesses in Nigeria e.g. agriculture in the areas of pumped irrigation, storage, animal husbandry, etc. Due to limitations of centralized grid system in rural electrification, the P Solar Project (under The Green Stealth Network) focuses on off-grid smallholder farmers in Nsukka (southeastern Nigeria). They mostly cultivate yams, cassava, peas and vegetables. This market segment tends to be owners of small and medium scale agro-allied enterprises without access to grid electricity. The perovskite solar wafers will aid the electrification of rural communities. Our solar panels will help power boreholes and irrigation pumps, which will increase production output in farms. These solar panels will also generate electricity to light, heat and cool barns for the yams.

The silicon photovoltaic panels are an excellent alternative to the epileptic grid electricity in Nigeria. But, the estimated cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is around $0.50, which is relatively high for rural Nigerian farmers. In addition, it is not easy to manufacture because of the high-temperature requirement of about 1700 degrees Celsius (℃). Silicon based solar cells also have a fixed band gap limiting its Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE), hence we opted for a low-cost, high-performance perovskite solar wafers. Perovskite photovoltaics are a potent alternative to traditional photovoltaics thanks to solution processing. When making perovskites, researchers can adjust the band gap at will by tweaking the mix of ingredients, raising the possibility of efficiency gains greater than those possible with silicon.

Stakeholders in the food supply chain, including farmers and processors, retailers and consumers, were surveyed to find the best fit between the problem we are trying to solve and the solution we are offering. According to survey results from 112 people, rural development is being hampered by an appalling lack of access to electricity. Since the centralized system hasn't efficiently distributed electricity to remote areas, the P Solar project fosters the needed transition towards Africa's decentralized grid systems by manufacturing perovskite panels for localized energy generation, transmission, and distribution. Several academic reports show lead leaks in perovskite solar wafers if damaged. Thus, the Project Co-lead, Jerry Ozoude, is currently examining the encapsulation of perovskite solar cells using laminated glass microscopes to prevent these lead leaks. Along with his work at the University of Nigeria Nsukka Nano Lab, he is an Academic scholar at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED).

The Green Stealth Network is currently a concept based on the long-standing Ubuntu philosophy, which prioritizes community bonds over self-interest. This is different from a socialist system where the factors of production are owned and regulated by the community. In this system, the parties are autonomous capitalistic entities that work together to create a better future for all of us. A version of this model is already being used in businesses in the southeast region of Nigeria. To create sustainable food systems in Nsukka, we adopt its ideas to raise funds to support agricultural innovation.

We are working on a prototype for P Solar project within our ecosystem. These perovskite solar wafers have been manufactured and synthesized in the lab thus far. Because of the high level of environmental concern, my co-lead is researching to decrease lead leakage in lead halide Perovskite solar cells. This study simulates a realistic scenario where encapsulated perovskite solar modules are damaged by mechanical impact, and the lead leakage rate is studied. If the R&D becomes successful, we will upscale, procuring machines that will produce the first batch of solar wafers for farms in Nsukka.

Perovskites are an emerging technology in terms of future high-efficiency solar cell designs. These materials can produce highly efficient solar cells at a cheap cost. Perovskite solar cells (PSC) are third-generation photovoltaic (PV) cells based on hybrid organic-inorganic metal halides as the light absorber. They have demonstrated fantastic progress in recent years. Like, the dramatic increase in photo-conversion efficiency from 9.7% to 22%, from 2012 to 2016. Experts attribute these improvements in device performances to distinctive properties such as a broad spectral absorption range, very high absorption coefficient, high carrier mobility, longer diffusion length, and long carrier lifetime. Nonetheless, there are still mysteries about how the solar cells behave during current-voltage measurement and problems related to performance degradation. Despite significant advances in understanding the stability and degradation of perovskite solar cells, they seem not commercially viable, yet. For mainstream solar power generation, technologies that cannot operate for more than two decades are unlikely to be viable regardless of other benefits. Hence, operational lifespan is a major concern for the perovskite PV R&D community. Passivation of absorber layers; alternative materials and formulations; and better encapsulation materials and techniques that limit degradation sources during production or operation are all part of the effort to improve the performance of perovskite solar cells

We have not launched our perovskite solar cells yet. We expect to serve 30 clients in the first year when we successfully encapsulate our panels against possible lead leaks. There has been a recent trend in Nigerian policy toward favoring locally produced goods as a desperate attempt to divest from economically relying on importation. In this light, we also plan to offer our panels to government institutions.

The Green Stealth Network’s impact goals for 2022 is to foster more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better life, leaving no one behind. We will do this through innovation for sustainable agriculture production and by creating equitable access to resources for small-scale producers within our ecosystem.

Changes in the lives of low-income beneficiaries (e.g. in incomes, production, empowerment, etc.)

We may encounter a financial issue in procuring the machinery needed for upscaling in the P Solar project within the next year. The problem of lead leakage is currently being investigated, and the first findings indicate that we will resolve it as soon as possible. With over 20 million Nigerians using solar panels and no local manufacturer, this will be a lucrative market for a Nigerian company with the proper funding.

We are a team of enthusiastic young people concerned about food system vulnerabilities. We believe that indoctrinating the Ubuntu philosophy into agriculture would help mitigate the financing challenges that limit innovation in that sector. Most of the team members are Igbos, and Igbos have a long history of cooperative trading among their people. Nsukka, our pilot region, is also a town of Igbo descent.

Members of our team have an excellent engineering background. The P Solar Project Co-lead, for instance, graduated as the Best Student from the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has extensive research experience on perovskites and other sustainable energy materials. We have a Professor of Solar Energy and Material Science on our advisory team and a Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Fellow. The latter was the Rockefeller Foundation-Acumen Student Social Enterprise Accelerator Challenge winner in 2020.

We have conducted a survey involving farmers, and most of them say that the epileptic power situation in Nigeria has been a significant challenge. Because we are currently working on the R&D for our perovskite solar cells, there hasn't been any actual field testing yet.

The Green Stealth Network currently has one partner for its perovskite solar cell research, product development, and initial piloting of the P Solar project, the Nano Research Lab, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. We plan to collaborate with the National Centre for Energy Research and Development (NCERD) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria, and the International Centre for Energy Environment and Development (ICEED) to conduct more research in this area.

Following careful consideration of the eligibility criteria for THE POZEN SOCIAL INNOVATION PRIZE, we feel that our solution matches the requirement for this challenge. THE GREEN STEALTH NETWORK is an initiative that seeks to reduce the effects of climate change on food systems in Africa by generating community-based finance for green agricultural innovation. By adopting a model that allows everyone in our ecosystem to succeed, we are fostering a change that will help to minimize economic disparities among stakeholders in the agricultural sector. This initiative will empower women because they make up 70-80% of the agriculture workforce in Nigeria. We will be bridging the barriers to women empowerment by providing financing opportunities for their farms and projects.

While researching THE POZEN SOCIAL INNOVATION PRIZE, we observed that a recipient of this prize must create highly impactful social ventures transforming their communities’ social and economic landscapes. We believe that our attributes match this selection criterion. We are building a community that creates financial and economic opportunities for all. Our economic model, where successful green technologies provide capital and leverage their resources and experience to help new ventures, will exponentially multiply our socio-environmental impacts. Testing this Ubuntu philosophy in the agricultural sector also creates learning possibilities for students and researchers.

Our P SOLAR project addresses an unmet environmental and economic need. Our panels will enable the development of our pilot region in the following ways:

• Accelerate rural electrification of Nsukka communities.
• Help bring clean water to last-mile communities by powering borehole pumps.
• Localized generation of clean energy for irrigation pumps, electric fencing for livestock, aeration pumps for fish and shrimp farms, egg incubators, and refrigeration

If my team wins this prize, we will channel the prize money to these areas: to fabricate and test more perovskite solar cell samples, to set up the pilot project, to build a website and pay for hosting, and to pay the experts involved in all of these processes.