Metadata
Title
Dawn-to-dusk test
Category
general
UUID
a19a02d3052e448b888cd21a3ee35626
Source URL
https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/aftrak/technology/dawn-to-dusk/
Parent URL
https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/aftrak/milken-motsepe-prize/
Crawl Time
2026-03-18T08:13:00+00:00
Rendered Raw Markdown

Dawn-to-dusk test

Source: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/aftrak/technology/dawn-to-dusk/ Parent: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/aftrak/milken-motsepe-prize/

From 5.00am through to 9.00pm on Leicestershire's sunniest July day - we demonstrated Aftrak working and powering devices.

For the dawn-to-dusk test, we really put the system through its paces.

Having created a small tent village, set up numerous domestic loads, assembled our custom designed, one-third scale solar array and brought out our second Aftrak tractor prototype, we met every time stamped requirement for the Milken-Motespe Prize in Green Energy semi-finalist stage.

The solar panels and batteries exceeded our minimum expectation of 18kWh power, generating about 35kWh of energy that flowed into and out of the base station batteries and powered our loads, including:

Another scale Aftrak system is en route to Malawi for further testing and, if selected as a finalist, we will repeat the test at full-scale in a sub-Saharan demonstration country where we expect to generate 70kWh / day.

The dawn-to-dusk test photo diary

[Zoom

Assembly of the solar array frame, using hammer flat tabs](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery1-1600x800.jpg "Assembly of the solar array frame, using hammer flat tabs")

[Zoom

Solar array frame assembly - at a warm and sunny 4.00am](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery2-1600x800.jpg "Solar array frame assembly - at a warm and sunny 4.00am")

[Zoom

Aftrak running the kettle and pressure cooker](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery3-1600x800.jpg "Aftrak running the kettle and pressure cooker")

[Zoom

Aftrak running the sewing machine](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery4-1600x800.jpg "Aftrak running the sewing machine")

[Zoom

The Aftrak tractor running the fridge](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery5-1600x800.jpg "The Aftrak tractor running the fridge")

[Zoom

Successfully charging an electric vehicle](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery6-1600x800.jpg "Successfully charging an electric vehicle")

[Zoom

Graph showing production and consumption during the test](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery7-1600x800.jpg "Graph showing production and consumption during the test")

[Zoom

Furrow ploughed by Aftrak in just one pass](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery9-1600x800.jpg "Furrow ploughed by Aftrak in just one pass")

[Zoom

Afrak in its charging bay under the solar panel](https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/media/research/aftrak/images/d2dgallery/aftrak-gallery8-1600x800.jpg "Afrak in its charging bay under the solar panel")