English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish
In many regions on the continent, electricity is expensive and difficult to access. Residents in countries like Nigeria and Kenya rely on expensive diesel generators — which also emit a lot of pollution — as an alternative.
To curb this problem, the team incorporated building-integrated solar panels to the house for uninterrupted power.
“It is a house that is net-zero. So it produces its own energy and does not consume more than the energy it produces,” Francis Fotsing Sadeu, one of the team members, told CNN.
Inspired by African architecture
According to Sadeu, 26, Northern African architecture was incorporated into building the house.
“You cannot guess it is made from containers because it looks like a normal house. For the exterior, we adapted Northern African architecture.
“For example, it has a patio, an open space inside the house that allows natural ventilation and improves daylight,” he said.
The last stage of the Solar Decathlon took place in September in Morocco.
Jua Jamii did not win the competition, but the team members — who have now graduated from their various master’s degree programs — say they will take their product to the market in 2020.
The interior design of the Jua Jamii house.
Abonyi, who serves as the health and safety officer on the team, said the group is now focused on creating a business plan that will consider the marketability, energy production and cost of putting the house on the market.
“We want to be able to build this house for people and companies interested in our product. We also want to advise construction companies on how to build similar efficient houses,” he told CNN.
While the prototype is approximately 114 square meters, it can be made in any size requested by consumers.
Abonyi says the house is a good fit for many people because it doesn’t take long to build.
“It took us two weeks to build. We can easily get one for people who are interested in our innovation,” he said.
