Thursday 30 May 2013

The Beginings

Birth

In the second week of January in the year 1984, a child was born to Mr. Vitalis Oloo Ndir and Mrs. Veronica Nyakesa Oloo in a rural village in Siaya district (now Siaya county), western Kenya. Having been born in the morning, the boy child was named Omondi, loosely translated as "early riser" in the local Luo dialect. When I was 9, I was baptised at St. Michael's Sigomre Catholic Church and named Francis and thus henceforth my full name became FRANCIS OMONDI OLOO

Education

Having been born in the same year that the Government of Kenya introduced the 8-4-4 education system, I spent 8 years at Madungu Primary School where I sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in the year 1997 after which I was admitted to Sawagongo High School in Siaya District.

I Joined Sawagongo High School on 25th February, 1998 and was in the school for the next four years. During my time in the school, I actively participated in drama and especially in the dramatized dance category where for a bigger part, I was the lead drummer for the dance troupe. I Sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in November, 2001 and scored 81 out of the possible 84 points.

Since I had performed better in Mathematics and Sciences, I had hoped to pursue a career in Electrical and Electronic Engineering however by a stroke of fate, I chose to pursue a career in Surveying and thus was admitted at the Department of Surveying at the University of Nairobi where I graduated with First Class honors in Bachelor of Science (Surveying) in October, 2008

From 01.03.2012 I was enrolled at the University of Salzburg, Austria to study for a Masters of Science degree course in Applied Geoinformatics. My studies in Austria were funded by the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD). I intend to be done with my studies at the end of July, 2013.

On 01.07.2013 I received a Masters of Science degree in Applied Geoinformatics from the University of Salzburg. I passed with a distinction (Mit Auszeichnung Bestanden)


Work

From January, 2009. I was employed as a GIS Technician at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) my key role in this post involved GIS data capture and mapping.

In July 2010, I signed a new contract as a GIS Analyst and with this I was attached to two regional projects where my main roles were GIS training and mapping land health and land degradation in Ethiopia highlands and in the Lake Tanganyika Basin. I successfully executed my tasks and only resigned from the post in March, 2012 to pursue further studies. In the course of my work, I learnt quite a lot from my supervisors, Dr. Thomas Gumbricht and Mr. Meshack Nyabenge. Additionally, I developed great interest in the field of Geoinformatics and especially in system development, web-applications and applications of GIS and Remote Sensing technology in solving natural resource oriented problems. As part of my work, I was involved in training rural stakeholders on how to use basic GIS skills in making decisions on natural resource management.

Training stakeholders in Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo

Hobies

When not involved in academic and professional activities, I spend my time in the following activities:
  • Playing soccer
  • Reading literature and world news
  • Blogging
  • Listening to music
  • Exploring nature




Coming to Salzburg

My Journey to the Centre for Geoinformatics (ZGIS) at the University of Salzburg started when I met Dr. Luke Olang' who is a professional in Hydrology and who had himself studied in Austria under the OeAD scholarship. Through his networks which he developed while pursuing his doctorate studies at BOKU, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, he introduced me to OeAD scholarship program and also communicated with Professor Josef Strobl, the Director at ZGIS about my zeal to further my studies in Geoinformatics at the University.

With the help of Dr. Olang', Prof. Strobl and Madam Elke of the OeAD office, I was successfully awarded a scholarship to study at the ZGIS and I earnestly enrolled and began my course work on 1st of March, 2012.

I Am sincerely grateful for the opportunity and privilege accorded to me by OeAD to be able to pursue my studies in Austria and particularly at the Centre for Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg

The journey continues

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Thesis: Assessment of photovoltaic solar energy potential in Kenya

Abstract

Accessibility to affordable and sustainable energy resources could have a major impact to the economies of developing countries and in the livelihoods of the citizens of those nations. Solar energy is one of the readily available renewable energy resources and especially to the countries which are located within the tropics. Kenya is one of the countries in the tropical region and receives an average of 6.5 sunshine hours in a single day throughout the year. The main reason for the slow adoption of solar energy resources in Kenya has been the general lack of information of the spatial variability of the characteristics of solar energy potential within the country. The second reason has been due to the high cost of solar energy technology and the lack of a comprehensive legal framework in support of investment in solar energy sector. 

The aim of this work was to assess the potential of solar energy in Kenya and particularly the potential of photovoltaic solar energy generation. The main factors that have an influence on the incident solar radiation that were considered in the study were atmospheric transmissivity and the nature of topography. The influence of atmospheric transmissivity was factored in by modelling monthly transmissivity factors from a combination of cloud cover, diffuse ratios and a correction for the influence of elevation on atmospheric transmissivity. The contribution of topography on the other hand was factored into the model by applying hemispherical viewshed analysis to determine the amount of incident global radiation on the surface based on the orientation of the terrain. This was implemented through the Solar Analyst Tool in ArcGIS 10. In order to integrate the different spatial datasets in the model, GIS methods and tools were used.

The result of the analysis showed that on average, approximately 95% of the land in Kenya has the potential of receiving approximately 5kWh/m2/day throughout the year. From the analysis of the monthly data, the maps of monthly solar energy potential in the period between April and September had relatively large areas of land characterised as high potential areas when compared to the other months. This task successfully attempted to assess and to document the spatial variability in the characteristics of solar energy potential in Kenya.

Key words: energy, solar energy, renewable energy, radiation, GIS

Note: The online map of monthly and annual solar energy potential in Kenya can be found here.