Tapping the sun in South Africa
by Eric Beauchemin, Jan 7, 2008
Source: Radio Netherlands
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/radioprogrammes/earthbeat/080107-solar-energy-africa
If there’s one thing Africa has an abundance of, it’s sunlight. And if there’s one thing it really lacks it’s electricity: at night, when you fly over Africa, all you see during most of the flight is darkness. Solar energy would appear to be the ideal solution, but it’s still barely used in Africa. A Dutch organisation is planning to help change that. It is already providing solar energy to over 100,000 people in the continent.
In South Africa, solar home systems are being provided in the province of KwaZulu Natal, with the support of the Department and Minerals and Energy and Foundation Rural Energy Services (FRES), based in the Netherlands. Customers pay a monthly tariff of about six euros to power four lights, a black and white TV, a radio and a cell phone charger.
The South African authorities are supposed to provide an electricity subsidy, which reduces the cost to a little over an euro, but this is still too much for many customers in this poor, remote area of South Africa. As a result nearly 30 percent of customers default on their payments.
Lives changed
The solar energy systems are ideal for customers who are not linked up to the national electricity grid. Lindyu, a 35-year-old, has solar energy for three years now. She says: “it’s changed our lives because we used to use candles, and now we have clean and safe light. We also now have television and radio”.
Economic boost
It’s not only individuals who are using the solar systems. Thanks to the power, shops can open for longer in the evening, and some people have even started up small businesses.
According to Caroline Nijland, the director of FRES, “some women, for instance, open a small store where they charge mobile phones. Many people have mobile phones but no way to charge them. So this is a unique opportunity for people to increase their income”. FRES plans to expand its solar home systems to reach a million people by the turn of the decade.