Solar energy is cheapest way to light up Africa – Expert

The Executive Director of Power Smart, Mr Deji Sura, has said that solar energy is the cheapest means to light up Africa and an uninterrupted power supply to homes.

Sura, who stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said mobile phones, which had been widely successful in Africa, changed the demand for power consumption on the continent.

“The mobile phone revolution is forcing millions of poor Africans to demand for electricity as more people now depend on their mobile phones to contact relatives, obtain general news and information.

“Small towns and villages that were not considered a priority by governments now have a huge demand for electricity,’’ he said.

According to him, thousands of villages in Africa are so remote and too spread apart that it will take decades and billions of investment in dollars to take electricity to all corners.

He noted that what Africa needed now was an alternative that was cheap, easy to deploy, decentralised and effective enough to provide electricity to millions of people in the shortest possible time.

The executive director said solar power was abundant and free because most of Africa sits on the earth’s equator which makes the sun’s radiation reach many parts of the continent including the remotest parts.

Sura also called on the government to adopt a more rational approach in order to make effective use of the energy from the sun.

He, however, urged the government to synergise with solar energy entrepreneurs, either by subsidising photovoltaic panels or enforcing favourable legislation to improve production of more solar panels.