Sherrie Thompson, solving Ghana's energy crisis with innovation

Necessity, or in this case adversity is the mother of invention they say, and Ghana’s three-year energy crisis may just have given birth to one of the most inspiringly breath-taking energy innovations in decades- Sun Shade Energy.

“I entered my dark room on one of those evenings when the lights had been off for over 12 hours, into the darkness and heat, and I prayed to God asking him that he said let there be light and there was light, but here I am turning on the light but no light seem to appear.”

But that was when the Ivy League-educated Sherrie Thompson got the idea for Sun Shade Energy.

Sun Shade Energy provides intricately- designed technological shades, which provide optimum building insulation during the hot afternoons, without an air- conditioner.

With the diverse array of designs available, one can opt for the Sun- Shade Louvre blades or window panels, or blinds that can be fixed in the room to block the suns rays from entering the room in a fascinating way that changes the temperature.

The other interesting thing is that Sun Shades have energy-generating properties that produce enough power to light up your home and run your fans at night- a direct response to the problems Sherrie faced during Ghana’s protracted energy crisis.

In terms of progress, Sun Shade Energy has gotten to the Minimum Viable Product stage where their idea has been transformed into a viable product.

“We are also engaging target customers getting feedback on how they will like the panels to look like. We currently have different designs and we will like to know what will serve them best.”

Even at this stage, Sherrie and her team have risen to world- acclaim, winning the Negawatts Competition both in Ghana and the international level at Barcelona.

Sun Shade Energy was clearly identified as the single piece of innovation that will transform energy consumption and sufficiency in Africa in the next decade or two.

“Barcelona opened our eyes to many ideas about how to make Accra a smart city, and how Sun Shade can propel that in the field of energy.”

Sherrie has been involved in facilitating investment in the green sector in Africa and specifically Ghana.

" I will continue to pursue investment in this sector for . I focus on advocacy and infrastructure," she stressed.

"On the 27 and 28th of February 2015, I participated in the Ghana Climate Innovation Center (CIC) Bootcamp. This is stage one of the Climate and Clean Tech Entrepreneurs Competition", she continued.