Reyhan Jamalova

Reyhan Jamalova is an Azerbaijani woman in STEM whose work is geared toward sustainable energy in rural areas. She is the founder and CEO of Rainergy, a company that focuses on harnessing the power of rainwater to sustainably generate electricity. Currently, she is an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, she has received a number of honorable mentions, awards, and/or honors for the work that she has done, including praise from the Azerbaijani government.

Early life

Childhood Jamalova became interested in human rights as a child. She, along with her best friend started a fundraising campaign for children in Somalia who had limited access to education, food, and water. Growing up in this environment influenced Jamalova's interest in sustainability in order to help her community and others alike.

Jamalova received an admissions offer to the University of Pennsylvania along with a scholarship. After she earns her bachelor's degree, she plans to get a master's degree in Data Science while working on Rainergy. Rainergy was first introduced during a ClimateLaunchpad competition, where it was voted as the favored project among audience members. The building phase of the project was initially funded by the government of Azerbaijan, but has since attracted other investors, including The Global Good Fund and Islamic Development Bank.

The device is 9-meters-tall and consists of four integral parts: "a rainwater collector, a water tank, an electric generator and a battery." The role of the rainwater collector is to fill the reservoir with rainwater, which will quickly flow through the generator and produce energy. This energy is then stored via a battery, which allows it to be used for energy even when there is a lack of rainfall.

Jamalova and her team's initial prototype could light 22 LED lamps with 22W of power. 2019, TRT World Citizen Youth Award 2020, Global Good Fund Fellow