18 June 2008
Botswana companies are taking calls by Government to find alternative sources of energy to supplement dwindling supplies seriously following downscaling by Eskom of South Africa.
As the search intensifies, several energy companies are harnessing more sustainable and environment-friendly sources like the sun.
Vilart Energy is one such Botswana company that has been successful in that regard. Vilart Energy has been hailed for embracing the philosophy of green energy in powering streetlights with solar energy.
It is considering extending the technology to boreholes. Solar power is already in wide use in a number of countries around the world, among them Israel and Spain.
The co-directors of Vilart Energy, Mesh Moeti and Modirwa Kekwaletswe, last week held a seminar for civic leaders and heads of parastatals, among them council chairmen, mayors, council secretaries and CEOs of public companies to enlighten them on solar technology at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Gaborone.
Commending the efforts of the two Batswana, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, described their initiative as an "indication that Batswana are proactive in the development of alternative sources of energy". "Solar energy is clean energy," Kedikilwe said. "It is renewable and environment-friendly. There are no carbon dioxide emissions into the air and no oil spillage."
Kedikilwe noted that the project that Vilart Energy is considering - extending use of solar power to boreholes - was already successful in countries like Angola and South Africa's province of Kwazulu/Natal.
At a time when energy tariffs are ever rising, Vilart Energy has formed a partnership with another company for the ambitious borehole project.
"I learn with delight that Vilart Energy's technology can power traffic lights by solar energy," Kedikilwe said. "It is a nightmare to drive in places like Gaborone when traffic lights are down."
The Minister told the seminar that if widely adopted, the technology could help rural communities, saying grid power was not the best option for much of rural Botswana, hence Government and the Botswana Power Corporation was exploring non-grid solutions like solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.
He said Government now recognised that solar energy was the most promising renewable energy source for Botswana.
It is estimated that Botswana receives over 3 200 hours of sunshine per year, which makes the country one of the highest solar radiation regimes in the world.
"Given Botswana's generation power shortfall, all options of power generation must be exploited," Kedikilwe said. "This is the route on which we are now."
Speaking at the same seminar, the Mayor of Gaborone Harry Mothei said the Gaborone City Council (GCC) was eager to turn the capital into a green city. In partnership with the UNDP, the city council had initiated (a) Non-Motorised Transport Programme whose aim is to reduce carbon emissions.
Infact, the city council was advocating walking and cycling. "We all know the problems we are experiencing as a result of the constant power outages and the likely long-term impact of shortage of power in our daily lives," the Mayor said. "It is in this context that we welcome any initiative that seeks to explore alternative energy sources.
"If properly harnessed (using) the right technology, solar energy is a viable and cost-effective energy source and can go a long way in alleviating the problems we are currently experiencing."
Meanwhile, one of the directors of Vilart Energy Mesh Moeti has said with solar energy, people need not worry when it rains because the PV panel comes with a back-up battery that has the capacity to store power that can last for four to five days in case there is no sunlight at all.
Moeti told the Voice newspaper that the PV panel has a 20-year lifespan. For a single streetlight, the system operates on a 75-watt PV panel powered by sunrays falling directly on it. The converted energy is then stored in a 700-watt battery.
It has an in-built sensor that responds to lack of sunlight, switching on automatically at dusk or when the sky is overcast and switching off at dawn.
Vilart Energy has put up pilot streetlights in Gaborone.
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