Solar development benefits rural communities
Solar is a solution for electricity source in communities that have no access to the electricity grid. An example of a working system of solar was recently developed in Ranaka village, coordinated by These- Hands GSSE.
These- Hands director Thabiso Mashaba told BG News that they developed a working prototype for the community members, one of the many projects they have developed. These- Hands empowers rural communities through the co- creative design process. The consortium’s approach is for community and technology development to allow community members staying in the same locality to explore their own livelihood challenges and come up with simple technologies that addresses them. This they do by setting up as small community enterprises that they run to employ and sustain themselves. The consortium’s work is supported by a grant from the Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme, which is financed by Letshego Group.
They have done several working prototypes including a brick moulder, fodder chopper and smart garden in Moiyabana, a deep sand carrier in Mosu, a pedal powered sorghum thrasher in Rasesa and most recently, a solar powered generator in Ranaka. Mashaba explained that since most residents of the village are not connected to the main power grid in their homes and struggle with access to electricity in their homesteads and farms, they developed a simple solar powered back- up generator that stores its own power and can be used for household farm needs. “Through the solar system, they can cook, charge their phones and light their homes for some time. The solar generator is easy to use, maintain and move, and is environmentally friendly. It is small scale but it has potential for growth.”
Botswana struggles to get electricity out to its remote rural areas, largely due to poor road links with urban areas and their distance from the national electricity grid. After a slow start into solar power, Botswana is pushing ahead with plans to generate solar from the sun, cutting its reliance on electricity imports and reducing its carbon footprint. In November 2020, Botswana launched the multi- billion Pula worth Rooftop Solar Programme to install 10 megawatts of photovoltaic ( PV) solar power capacity over the next 12 months, with two megawatts for households and the rest for commercial and industrial users. During the launch, Minister for Green technology and Energy security, Lefoko Moagi, said government would subsidise the cost of small- scale solar power systems, and surplus energy generated will be sold to the Botswana Power Corporation. “We create an enabling environment for users to generate their own power. Furthermore, we want to see Botswana’s installed capacity increasing, because the country is still faced with dire energy shortages.”
Botswana Power Corporation has indicated that the project aims to install at least 44,000 solar panels in residential properties across the country by the end of 2021. The rooftop solar project is part of Botswana’s Integrated Resource Plan 2020- 2040, a collection of clean energy projects that should increase Botswana’s total installed electricity capacity to 1540MW, which is more than double the current demand, within the next 20 years. Currently, Botswana relies on imports from South Africa for more than 70 percent of the energy it uses, spending P520 million each year, according to government figures.