Nick: February 2008 Archives

11th February 2008

Dear SolarAiders,

I am writing from a humid, fairly wet, Mozambique. I am in Pemba on the east coast where I am better off speaking Swahili than English or my fairly poor Portugese. I am here to meet a local NGO called AMA (They're very interested in microsolar and also larger systems) and explore the possibility of SolarAid collaborating with WWF in the region - focusing on the area of the Quirimbas National Park where human - elephant conflict is said to be a pressing issue. More on this at another time!

The latest from Malawi is:
We have a SolarAid team! During my visit, I met up with Fiskani (our local coordinator) and Carl (our new volunteer from Belgium). They are very keen to get the SolarAid ball rolling together with the Centre for Appropriate Technology in Mzuzu and the surrounding area. Luke has already identified a number of community organisations interested in collaborating on the microsolar project; Carl is already happily taking apart electronic gadgets, taking a look at the electronics inside... and putting them back together again (a trait all good microsolar geeks seem to display); and Fiskani (who was involved in the original microsolar research in Mzuzu) has shown that he has knows a lot of things about a lot of things.

I also held meetings at the department of energy in Lilongwe, visited REIMA - the Renewable Energy Institute of Malawi - and met up with a new budding local NGO which is being set up specifically to promote sustainable energy solutions in rural areas. Oh - and I managed to have yet another birthday in Africa. One of these days I'll throw a party in the UK.

I won't keep you guys any longer - plenty of photos to see on my return!

John

The majority of people living in rural Malawi don't have access to electricity and are forced to burn kerosene for lighting. Kerosene is harmful to health, dangerous and increasingly expensive. Kerosene is also a fossil fuel that emits greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change - our calculations show that the average kerosene lamp in Africa spews out a tonne of CO2 over 7-10 years.

This project will introduce simple, locally assembled, affordable LED solar lanterns to the market as a viable alternative to kerosene use. It will provide people with a cheap alternative to kerosene.

The project is designed to provide rural populations in Malawi with a truly viable alternative to kerosene for lighting. The lights will be locally assembled, sold through existing sales networks and, most importantly, the low cost overcomes the usual price barriers to new technology being accepted.

As the lights are assembled locally, value is added to the products in East Africa. Employment is therefore generated though product assembly and sales. This approach enables the products to be repaired locally and provides salesmen with the confidence to provide warranties.

John Keane
SolarAid Head of Programmes