From January to March 2005 BBC World will profile examples of the kind of project we are looking for in the Hands On
short form programmes. These examples will also be profiled in Newsweek in a special advertising feature.

Click an image below to view project.

3. SOLAR POWER COOLERS:
Using The Sun To Keep Things Cool In Bangladesh

Most people in Bangladesh live without electricity. And even though gas and kerosene are available in this tropical country, supplies are unpredictable.

To solve this problem and encourage cleaner energy sources, UNICEF is supporting the use of solar-powered refrigerators. Solar fridges are more reliable than those run by kerosene or gas, but they aren't cheap: they generally cost between US$3,000 and US$5,000. And local people need to be trained to install and repair them.

Two solar fridge engineers from Dulas, a company in Wales, recently
trained thirteen Bangladeshi medical technicians in the fundamentals
of solar energy technology. Dulas, which has been developing solar
refrigerators for 15 years, was one of a handful of suppliers approved by
the World Health Organization. The carefully packed fridge and its panels
traveled 5,000 miles by jet for the lecture course, but made the rest of
the journey in a river boat.

The Bangladeshi trainees learned that the refrigerator's solar panels
don't require constant sunshine to store energy. Even a cloudy sky can
recharge the special batteries, a good thing in this monsoon-prone country.

So despite its experimental status in Bangladesh, the future of the
sun-powered fridge looks bright.