The Voice (Francistown)
Francinah Baaitse
6 May 2008
Francistown — The recent power blackouts, has awakened many citizens of Botswana - and the South African region (SADC) as a whole - to God's gift to Africa - the sun. Now many are turning to solar energy, as the alternative source of light and heat.
Not surprisingly, business minds are busy at work, to tap into this opportunity that has always been there but never really developed. But what is surprising is to discover that even young media executives are setting aside the pen to follow the sun.
Many are familiar with the names Mesh Moeti and Modirwa Kekwaletswe. They have been part of local media from the early 1990s - in the art of writing and graphic design. But energy business? Yes believe it, the brains that were behind one of Botswana's short lived but glorious moments of magazine publishing - Flair Magazine - have gone into untested territories, solar energy. They are directors of Vilart Energy, an ambition to bring lights to the streets of Gaborone, entirely powered by the sun.
In the morning of our fourth president's inauguration, April 1, Vilart put up two solar systems on two streets lights in the vicinity of Thebe Primary School in extension 2 in Gaborone. The demonstration solar satellite lighting was erected to prove its efficacy to Gaborone city council.
The company Chairman, Moeti, argues that solar energy is an answer to solving the power crisis now threatening to cripple the country's industrial sector. For him besides the precious stones, Diamond, Botswana has been blessed with the scotching sun. "Many people feel irritated by our sun, but they should look at it as a blessing. The Middle East was blessed with oil and we have the sun," he asserted.
The use of electricity for the rural population even as far as the farms and cattle posts may no longer be a wish as Vilart Energy ascertain to also have the expertise to power the households.
One of the short backs against the government aided Young Farmers Fund, is shortage of piped water and electricity. This is one area where solar power would play a vital role in easing the country's highly stretched load regarding power supply.
Most farmers rely on boreholes to feed their life stork and the engines they use to pump that water uses diesel. With the rampant price hikes of oil farmers may need something that would not eat too much into their pocket.
"Solar energy is a lifelong investment. It is a once off payment," advised Vilart director.
Although costly to install, once installed, there is no added costs. Unlike the electricity which usage is at a high cost, there are no monthly bills for solar power users. The sun beams into the solar panels year in and out, and it is free, said Moeti, adding that even more advantageous is that the solar energy is "clean" and therefore, does not negatively impact on the environment.
What about blackouts? Not to worry, said Moet. Just a small ray is adequate, "therefore people should not fear that during rainy days the power might falter." He explained that the PV panel, which has a 20-year lifespan, comes with a back-up battery that has a capacity to save power which can be used in four to five days incase there is no sunlight at all.
"But I have never heard of Botswana being in total darkness for that long. There is always a break of the sun somewhere even during rainy seasons."
For a single streetlight, the system operates on a 75-watt PV panel that is powered by sunrays that falls directly on it. The converted energy is then stored in a 700-watt battery. It has an inbuilt sensor, which responds to lack of sunlight; it automatically switches on at dusk or when there is a heavy cloud cover, and automatically switches off at dawn.
Like all other businesses, Vilarts has its own challenges - the main culprit being attitude. "Some still view it as a poor man's energy system," averred Moeti.
He is just relieved, though that since they carried out the demonstrations, there has been a flood of inquiries, especially from the commercial farmers.
The electricity problems are projected to become worse before they get better. Most SADC countries are overwhelmed with the demand for power and solar power has become an alternative answer. As per recent media reports, South Africa has in its pipeline plans to construct a 100 Mega Watts power plant, entirely solar powered. Swaziland also is said to have resorted to lighting the streets of its city from solar energy whilst Namibia is reportedly subsiding the installation of solar systems for domestic use with plans to roll-out a solar heating programme for all government houses.
It can come to Botswana, said Moeti as he encouraged Batswana, "to go solar."
Moeti and Kekwaletswe are both known to be very much involved in Botswana's media fraternity, and still run Front Page Publications (the publishes the Botswana's now defunct glossy magazine, Flair). So how did they get involved in energy projects? "Vilart was initiated as a move to diversify from the media. We wanted a growth avenue and we still co-own Front page publications."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Voice. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
