Solar Energy Project in Zimbabwe and Zambia

Many of us take the energy supply for granted every day. We turn on the light, watch TV, take the cold milk out of the refrigerator, heat our food on the stove, and use minimal time for these basics. This is not the reality in the African bush.

When you travel in the rural areas of Southern Africa, you may get an erroneous impression of traveling backwards in time. Backwards, it’s called. We talk about everything being in rapid development, but the feeling one gets in rural Africa is more close to the world being at a stand still. You see villages with the characteristic, round clay covered straw roofed huts with patterns painted in red clay on the wall. A wooden bed, some blankets, card board boxes, and pages torn out of a magazine decorating the walls. The food is prepared on open fire with the firewood collected in the neighborhood. The water is collected in the well or in the river and is carried on the head in a clay pot or plastic bucket. There is a team of oxen, a flock of barefoot children, chicken and turkeys straying freely, and a cow here and there chewing the cud.

People seem to have time to just sit and look straight ahead. And this even in the year 2001.

There is no electricity in the village, so there is no radio or TV which bring new knowledge of what is happening in this country, or in other countries. No possibility to read and study - during the day there is the work in the fields, and by six o’clock the sun goes down and everything turns black. Without electricity the village remains in the dark in many ways. Consider the limitations placed on the life of every human being.

More than 70% of the people living in developing countries do not have access to electricity in their homes. The electricity consumption in Southern Africa is only 10% of the average of the industrialized countries.

Development is linked to increased energy consumption. Some scientists claim that if the developing countries should have a development similar to the one of the industrialized countries, it would mean a 69% increase in the CO₂-pollution in the world. The present situation is already a threat to the environment, and a giant expansion in energy production could be catastrophic. Thus other solutions have to be found. Solar energy, wind energy, water energy, wave energy and much more.

In the tropics it is obvious to make use of the solar energy.

C to C in Zimbabwe and Zambia
In Zimbabwe and Zambia Humana People to People had started projects with the aim to organize and educate the poorest subsistence farmers to become commercial farmers. The name of the projects are C to C (From Communal to Commercial Farmer) in Zimbabwe, and S to C (From Subsistence to Commercial Farmer) in Zambia.

Briefly, the idea of the projects is that Humana People to People puts good agricultural land at the disposal of the farmers for the purpose of doing agriculture in a five year period. Each family borrows a piece of land - the husband with his plot, the wife with her plot. Furthermore there are shared plots and plantations for all the farmers in the new C to C village.

During the five year duration of a C to C project, the families grow the land and at the same time take part in an agricultural education, where they among other things learn planning, economy, maintenance of the crops, the introduction of new crops, the organization of purchases, and marketing. The profit each farmer earns is his or her own savings, which can be used for the investment in a new start after the five years.

The families commit themselves within a number of areas - for example to save their surplus made from the harvest on a bank account, to send their children to school, to live in the C to C village and to participate in meetings about how the village is being run and developed.

The small houses or huts lay well-arranged along the main road, and the families must build latrines and facilities for washing clothes, keep the place clean and orderly, and organize systems for handling the waste. The outdoor areas must be inviting with flowers and trees. All in all, the idea of the project is to create realistic prototypes of how one can develop rural areas in the Third World in order for people to live a better life. It therefore integrates many aspects of life - including the energy supply.

C to C was running, the Solar Energy was added
The two projects we are talking about were intended to mount solar panels in connection to homes and shared facilities of the families who were participating in the C to C / S to C projects. The solar panels thus became a part of a model for the development of rural areas, and gave the villagers completely new possibilities to meet for planning sessions or to study in the evenings, for the children to read or do their homework, or for a transistor radio to deliver fresh pieces of news and music.

A solar panel system consists of:

• 1 solar energy module
• 1 12-ampere 3-step solar charger
• 1 charge regulator
• 1 photosensitive light relay
• 1 battery
• 2 lamps
• Cables, fuses, and bulbs

Each solar panel contains many solar cells. When the sun shines on the solar cells, an electric current is produced. This energy can be stored in the battery, so that the electricity can be used in the evening. A battery can store electricity which corresponds to the consumption of two 60 w light bulbs for a period of four hours. Once the solar panels have been installed, they will continue to produce electricity when the sun is shining.

The technology in this project has a limited capacity. The electricity is for example not powerful enough to run a stove. More research is needed before this is economically feasible.

85 families in Zimbabwe and 87 families in Zambia started putting solar panels up on their houses along the main road. Today each family takes care that the panels are maintained, and they know how to identify their basic faults. The grant for the project allowed for spare parts, so the families are able to replace parts when needed.

A Summary of the Advantages

• The villagers got access to electrical power, and thereby their daily lives became a bit easier.
• The families had light so they could use more hours of the day for their various tasks, including improving their own knowledge and skills - which was true for both children and adults.
• The farmers learnt to master a new technology - everybody was taught how to mount and maintain the solar panels.
• Everybody was taught about the different forms of energy, and learnt about advantages and disadvantages.
• The concept of "protecting the natural environment" has become known to everybody in the villages.
• A group of people who would normally not be considered opinion-shaping, but who has a right to their own opinion, had an opportunity to put their mark on the history of energy.
• The project has a great significance in Zimbabwe and in Zambia as a model for development, and as such it carries with it a progressive environmental policy.

The C to C projects have developed differently in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

In Zimbabwe the project is finalized. There are solar panels mounted in three villages for 85 families. Currently the solar panels in one of the villages are taken down due to the political situation. They are awaiting more stable times or places in order to be put up again.

In the village of Mumena in Zambia, 50 double solar panels have been mounted and provide electricity in the evenings. There are 87 families in the village who benefit from this. In addition there are solar panels by the shared facilities, the preschool, and the assembly hall. The remaining 123 solar panels are in the process of being mounted on primary and secondary schools, at clinics and assembly halls in connection with the Child Aid projects.