OhmPower is a modular, extendable and intelligent grid solution that optimizes electricity distribut
When we first got together as a team during the Challenge Based Innovation programme at CERN in 2016, it was with the objective of seeing how we could use technology to improve the lives of refugees and displaced people. Our long journey into the pain points of refugees living in refugee camps led us to the conclusion that if their access to electricity is improved, their quality of life can be be
ttered in many areas including safety, hygiene, productivity, and connectivity. That’s how our idea took shape, in a bid to find an affordable way to optimise the use of available electricity in refugee camps. OhmPower is modular, extendable, easy to install and use, and works well with any combination of electricity sources. Our solution is intelligent, and uses a multi-hub distributed control system to prioritise critical needs of the camp while also addressing the needs of individual shelters. As we developed our idea and started making rough prototypes, we realised that OhmPower has applications beyond refugee camps - it works for any situation with a scarcity of supply. More than a billion people in the developing world have no access to electricity at all, and an even greater number of people have very limited access. We want to reach all of them, and help communities empower themselves by improving the usage of what is, to them, a scarce and precious resource. From our base in Barcelona, we are exploring collaborations in both humanitarian and commercial sectors, and we're working towards developing a field-ready product which is robust, safe, and ready to scale.
