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A day of shared learning and lively discussion brought Ayrton Sister Projects together at the University of Warwick on 1 October 2026, opening up new opportunities for collaboration on sustainable, inclusive clean energy.

Held at the Scarman building on Warwick’s campus, the Ayrton Sister Projects Networking Meeting focused on Capacity Building and Sustainability — two themes central to ensuring that clean energy research delivers lasting benefits for the communities it serves.

For CREDiT, the event was particularly rewarding. The original suggestion for a face-to-face gathering came from the University of York’s CREDiT team during one of the monthly Ayrton Sister Project Managers’ calls earlier in the year. Fellow project managers enthusiastically supported the idea, which was also endorsed by Charlie Harmer-Wallace, who attends these calls on behalf of UKRI.

Seeing that idea develop into a successful gathering demonstrated the value of the connections already growing across the Ayrton projects. With places limited to 30 and a waiting list for attendance, there was clear enthusiasm for the opportunity to meet, exchange experiences and explore common interests.

CREDiT: Beyond Solar

CREDiT was represented by Professor Suresh Perinpanayagam, Principal Investigator at the University of York, Dr Olufemi Olayiwola, representing WP2 and WP5, and Bukola Oyinloye, representing WP3.

Suresh delivered a presentation entitled “Beyond Solar: Using Digital Twins to Build Long-Term Community Energy Systems in Rural Africa.” His talk introduced CREDiT’s approach to combining community participation and co-design with Digital Twin technology to support solar energy systems in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.

The ambition extends well beyond installing equipment. By linking community priorities with tools for monitoring, understanding and planning energy use, CREDiT aims to help communities sustain and develop their energy systems over the long term.

All three CREDiT representatives found the day highly valuable, making new contacts and gaining a deeper understanding of the achievements, challenges and approaches of their fellow Ayrton projects.

A Full Day of Shared Learning

Following a welcome from Professor Muyiwa Oyinlola, Principal Investigator of CEPREC at De Montfort University, the programme combined presentations, practical workshops and networking.

The day explored:

• Knowledge sharing and lasting impact, with Professor Giuliana Battisti of the University of Warwick discussing capacity building, followed by African SCENe researchers Dr Jordan Lafayette and Dr George Foden on co-creating impact with communities.

• An inclusive energy transition, with Harshit Vallecha of JustGESI examining gender equality and social inclusion barriers in energy and engineering education in Africa.

• Modelling community energy systems, through an interactive workshop led by Imperial College London’s Dr Benedict Winchester on the CLOVER model and its application to demand, system performance and lifetime optimisation.

• Collective impact and future collaboration, in a workshop facilitated by SHINE’s Dr Charlotte Ray and Dr Joe Butchers, exploring shared learning, planned outputs and opportunities beyond individual project funding periods.

• Sustainable energy opportunities, through presentations on productive uses of surplus solar energy from SMART-SIP+, CREDiT’s Digital Twin approach, and research, capacity building and international collaboration in solar manufacturing through REACH-PSM.

Across these sessions, participants identified many common challenges and complementary areas of expertise, providing a strong basis for continued discussion and potential joint working.

Keeping the Momentum Going

Feedback from those involved was overwhelmingly positive. The event offered much more than a chance to network: it helped teams understand one another’s work and consider how their collective experience could strengthen the wider impact of the Ayrton programme.

Although logistics and budget constraints meant that in-country partners could not all attend this one-day meeting, participants stressed the importance of keeping them informed and actively included in the learning and opportunities arising from it.

CREDiT extends its thanks to Dr Nitika Bhalla of CEPREC at De Montfort University, supported by Emma Formant of MovingImpact at Imperial College London and Chantal Bideleux of TEA@SUNRISE at Swansea University, for their excellent work in bringing the day together.

Looking ahead, Suresh proposed a further gathering around April 2027, offering the University of York as a possible host. With strong enthusiasm for continuing these exchanges, the Warwick meeting has provided a promising starting point for closer collaboration across the Ayrton Sister Projects.

WP3 lead Michael Ngoasong’s visit to Malawi put community ownership, viable business models and long-term sustainability at the heart of CREDiT’s clean-energy ambitions.

Solar PV can transform rural livelihoods — but installing technology is only the beginning. During a recent visit to Malawi, CREDiT Work Package 3 lead Michael Ngoasong helped advance the equally important challenge: creating an Energy as a Service model that communities can own, operate and sustain long after the project ends.

The visit centred on the second CREDiT participatory workshop in Malawi, held from 12–14 October 2026 with representatives of the Kasichi, Vijumu and Nkhuzukuzu Village Development Committees in Kasungu District. Malawi partner Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), including its Centre of Excellence in Transformative Agriculture Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship (TACE), organised local arrangements and coordinated engagement with communities and key stakeholders.

Led by Bobby Farnan, a key member of WP1 – Socio-Technical Design and Development, the three-day workshop created space for communities to explore how locally generated solar power could support agricultural processing, small enterprises and inclusive rural development. The discussions moved quickly from broad ambition to practical decisions: how electricity should be allocated, what services should cost, how vulnerable households could participate, and who should be responsible when difficult choices or disputes arise.

Digital innovation meets community decision-making

The Malawi workshop also showcased one of CREDiT’s most distinctive innovations: the use of digital twin technology to enhance the performance, transparency and future management of the planned solar PV system. Peter Gillingham of WP2 – Digital Twin Platform led this work in both Malawi and Zambia, demonstrating how a virtual model could help communities visualise electricity demand, financial flows, maintenance needs and the distribution of benefits.

Crucially, the digital twin is not intended to replace community judgement. It is designed to strengthen it—giving local decision-makers clearer evidence with which to test options, anticipate pressures and manage the system fairly.

WP3 turns infrastructure into a sustainable service

Michael’s contribution extended well beyond the workshop itself. In meetings with Malawian officials responsible for SMEs and cooperative societies, as well as stakeholders with expertise in agriculture and water management, he explored the institutional and commercial foundations needed to turn new infrastructure into a durable community enterprise.

Those conversations sharpened three priorities for CREDiT: stronger collaboration with district authorities; fair participation across all three Village Development Committees; and clear arrangements for land, asset ownership and financial accountability. They also opened a pathway from community-managed pilot operations towards a formally registered, community-owned cooperative supported by robust financial planning and appropriate institutional oversight.

This is where WP3 – Energy as a Service: Business Models – is critical. By addressing pricing, governance, ownership, entrepreneurship and accountability alongside the technology, WP3 is helping ensure that CREDiT’s solar PV installations can remain useful, inclusive and financially viable during the project—and especially after formal project support has ended.

The message from Malawi is clear: lasting energy transitions are built not only with panels and platforms, but with trusted institutions, viable enterprises and communities empowered to shape their own energy future.

Dr Olufemi Olayiwola represented the CREDiT project at the IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica 2026 Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21–25 September 2026, presenting research that connects microgrid energy management with stakeholder needs and fairness.

Olufemi, a Research Fellow in Net Zero at the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy and a CREDiT co-investigator, presented a project research paper titled “Contract-Based Hierarchical MPC for Microgrid Primal Power-Budget Coordination with Service Awareness and Fairness.”

The research explores a new approach to managing electricity demand within a campus-level microgrid—a local energy system serving several buildings and users. It draws on stakeholder needs and service requirements identified through an earlier co-design process, bringing these priorities into decisions about how available electricity is allocated.

A key contribution is the integration of fairness, informed by repeated engagement through co-design. During periods of limited renewable energy generation, the approach aims to balance competing demands while protecting stakeholder satisfaction and equitable access to the services electricity supports.

This work is particularly relevant to settings where the main electricity grid is unavailable or unreliable. It contributes to the development of automated energy management that responds to both available generation and the needs of the people using the system.

PowerAfrica brings together researchers, engineers, industry professionals and policymakers to discuss Africa’s energy challenges and opportunities. The 2026 conference focused on resilient energy systems, industrial decarbonisation, renewable energy integration and energy access, providing a relevant forum for sharing CREDiT’s research.

For CREDiT, the presentation demonstrates how community participation can inform technical development. The project’s wider ambition is to develop community-centred, equitable and service-oriented clean energy solutions, with co-design and digital tools supporting their long-term operation and sustainability.

An idea to connect projects, share experiences and explore opportunities for collaboration has quickly grown into a popular and productive network across the UKRI Ayrton programme.

CREDiT is delighted to be helping build the Ayrton Sister Projects group, which is bringing project managers together through monthly online meetings to exchange knowledge, discuss common challenges and identify opportunities to achieve more together.

Since the idea was first discussed in January 2026, the group has attracted active support from 13 projects, with representatives from at least eight projects regularly joining the monthly calls. After several meetings, it is already proving a valuable resource and sounding board for those managing clean energy research partnerships across different countries and communities.

A Shared Idea Takes Shape

Within CREDiT, Principal Investigator Professor Suresh Perinpanayagam and Project Manager Colin Arnold proposed reaching out to fellow Ayrton projects to explore synergies, shared goals and potential future collaboration.

At around the same time, Emma Formant, Project Manager for Moving IMPACT at Imperial College London, was developing a similar idea. Following discussions with Charlie Harmer-Wallace of UKRI, Emma contacted CREDiT and other projects, bringing these complementary ambitions together.

The initial group agreed to establish a monthly meeting between project managers. Chaired by Emma, these calls have received enthusiastic and consistent support, creating a regular space for open discussion and practical exchange.

Sharing Knowledge Across Project Teams

The meetings provide an opportunity for project managers to introduce their projects, explain their approaches and share the ideas and ambitions behind their work.

Although the projects cover different technologies, locations and research questions, the discussions are revealing many common interests: community participation, inclusive energy access, capacity building, sustainable business models and the challenge of ensuring that benefits continue beyond the funded research.

Information shared through the group is passed on to the respective project teams, extending its value well beyond those attending each call. This includes project updates, research resources and details of webinars, online events and other opportunities, both within the Ayrton community and from the wider clean energy sector.

For CREDiT, these exchanges offer a useful way to learn from other teams while sharing experience from its own work in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.

Different Projects, Connected Ambitions

The breadth of work represented offers considerable scope for shared learning. Projects connected through these exchanges include:

• CEPREC — advancing renewable energy in Africa through circular economy approaches, bringing together research, industry and government expertise to support sustainable, locally appropriate solutions.

• SMART-SIP+ — exploring how surplus electricity from solar irrigation pumps in Bangladesh can support agricultural activities such as cooling, food processing and post-harvest management.

• REACH-PSM — supporting the development and local manufacture of next-generation perovskite solar modules in Africa, with an emphasis on community involvement, skills and circular economy principles.

• Moving IMPACT — investigating how solar mini-grids can connect agriculture, clean cooking and small electric vehicles to strengthen rural energy access and economic opportunities.

• African SCENe — developing schools in Kenya as renewable energy hubs, supporting community resilience, education and access to clean energy.

• JustGESI — placing gender equality and social inclusion at the heart of a just energy transition in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

• CREDiT — combining participatory co-design, solar mini-grids, service innovations and Digital Twins to support sustainable community energy in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.

• SHINE — putting well-being at the centre of inclusive energy system design in The Gambia and Ghana, connecting social, health, environmental and technological considerations.

Together, these projects demonstrate how different approaches to clean energy can contribute to shared goals for stronger communities, improved livelihoods and lasting sustainability.

A Collective Voice and a Direct Link with UKRI

Charlie Harmer-Wallace now attends the monthly meetings on behalf of UKRI, providing a valuable connection between the project teams and the funder.

Her involvement supports an exchange in both directions: relevant UKRI updates and announcements can be shared directly with project managers, while the group’s experiences, ideas and suggestions can be taken back to the wider UKRI team.

This gives the projects a collective voice alongside their individual reporting arrangements, helping common issues and opportunities receive wider consideration.

Looking Ahead

Building on the success of the monthly calls, the group is supporting the idea of a face-to-face networking event later in 2026. This would provide an opportunity for wider project representatives to meet, explore shared themes in greater depth and develop potential collaborations.