SA businessman helps harvest power for refugees

A SOUTH African businessman is behind a project to power refugee camps on the Greek Island of Lesbos using a system that harvests energy from the sun, wind, or the grid and stores it in crystal batteries for later use.

The first pilot unit was installed last week and is providing power to 80 tents.

Miles Oates, chief executive of the Build Africa Corporation, said more units would be installed in communal areas later this month to be used to power pumps for services.

It has meant the thousands of refugees, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who arrive on the island, can at least charge their cellphones to stay in touch with relatives at home.

Oates, from Franschhoek, went to Lesbos in March as part of a think tank along with aid groups, the UN and Doctors Without Borders, to see what practical measures could be implemented to improve conditions for refugees.

He ventured into the freezing sea water with volunteers to help refugees coming ashore and described what he saw as “simultaneously the very worst and the very best about humanity” – referring to the indescribable suffering faced by the refugees, combined with the selfless efforts of aid groups like Movement on the Ground.

“When the first pilot plant was switched on last week one could feel an immediate change in atmosphere in the camp at night ”From the Greek government’s point of view it makes the camps more manageable, safer and saves them a fortune in electricity charges.”

Oates said the Power Up system, which is roughly the size of a laptop computer, could be extended as the camps expanded or packed up and moved to another location if necessary.

He said it worked by harvesting energy from the sun using solar panels which is used to run the system and to charge the crystal battery banks.

It is also being used in African countries including Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Angola, Kenya, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Egypt.