How African Homes Can Take Advantage of Solar Power

Electricity is an essential part of everyday life — it helps us stay connected by powering gadgets, makes food last longer in fridges, and makes us feel safe by providing us with light. For businesses, electricity means economic activity. Unfortunately, around 592 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live with no access to electricity.

Those that do have access tend to rely on diesel-powered generators, which are costly, unreliable, and contribute a lot of pollution to the environment. Meanwhile, some resort to illegal methods to obtain energy. The latter option poses many risks, such as electrocution and even death in the worst-case scenarios. Those who are connected legally aren’t always able to enjoy the benefits due to the frequent outages and fluctuations in power. Electricity also tends to be very costly due to the limited supply in many low-income African regions.

Is Renewable Energy the Answer?

To address these problems, the World Bank encourages governments in sub-Saharan Africa to invest in specific electrification plans that are best suited to their communities as it will help them reach their goals much faster. This is because, while governments have expended resources to build electric grids similar to the ones in wealthier countries, this becomes a one-size-fits-all solution that’s not suited to African communities. For one, fossil fuels are one of the main sources of electricity, and a costly one at that. Following in the footsteps of these other countries may only lower the electrification uptake rates. To make electricity as attainable as possible, governments need to focus on using a single energy source that can make electricity more affordable to the general public.

A solution that governments can use is to turn to renewable sources of energy. In fact, some sub-Saharan African countries are actually already working to increase their capacity when it comes to handling renewable energy. With factors such as population growth, increasing urbanisation and industrialisation, renewable energy can help people have a reliable access to electricity. While Africa’s renewable energy mix started with hydropower and thermal plants, solar power is yet to become a common source of electricity.

Solar as an Attractive Option for African Communities

By using solar energy it also means that governments can prevent power outages. Aside from having efficient solar panels, they can also invest in solar energy storage. Hoymiles explains that solar energy storage ensures that you always have a source of energy, even if the primary system fails. The energy can be stored and used at night or if the solar installation doesn’t generate enough electricity to meet demands. Optimised solar batteries can last 10-15 years, and once they are integrated into your system, they will automatically store the excess energy that hasn’t been used.

In sub-Saharan Africa, one of the first companies to use solar power is Kenya’s M-Kopa. The company sells independent solar energy units, which are solar panels that directly power charger outlets, lights, and refrigerators. Their customers can get a solar home system for just a deposit of 35$. Meanwhile, Bisanti, Nigeria and Burkina Faso have mini-grids, which are independent, centralised electricity networks that aren’t connected to a main grid (typically a national grid). Mini-grids generate electricity for local consumption in communities that either have too small a population or are too remote. In Uganda, a previous article on Innovation Village discussed how Innovex’s co-founders, Douglas Baguma K and David Tusubira, offered to help off-grid solar energy systems installers and distributors to scale their businesses using digital tools. This allows these companies to offer better after sales support and pay-as-you-go options for larger solar systems.

The effort to increase electrification uptake rates in sub-Saharan Africa may be a long and difficult process. However, by making solar much more accessible on a larger scale it will ensure that the electricity reaches as many people as possible.

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This article was written by Lois Paey