Third solar energy co-design workshop explores off-grid solutions in Malawi

Posted on Tuesday 14 April 2026

Funded through the UK government's Aryton fund, CREdit (Co-designing clean energy for rural Africa with service innovations and digital twins) recently organised a three day co-design workshop (16 to 18 March 2026) in Nyambo village, Kasungu, Malawi. Taking a socio-technical approach to solar energy development, this multi-stakeholder workshop brought together community members from off-grid villages to co-produce technical and governance solutions for a future solar hub and battery charging system. 

By partnering closely with workshop participants from across these villages, the co-produced solutions generated provide a contextually nuanced set of governance guidelines, committee structures, and technical specifications that will help to foster an equity-centred approach to sustainable solar development. The ensures design focus is not only on the technical specification, but also on how the system will be run for the benefit of all. To achieve this, the project invested heavily in understanding the social, economic and political context into which the new system will be delivered, before commencing a co-design process that is anchored in - and reflects - these local realities.