Power of the sun – how solar is improving community life in Africa. By Beetle Holloway

By Dilip -
As everyday activities go, flicking a switch barely even registers. But when Ibrahima Ciss pushes the small plastic lever by his door, a broad smile rises on his face. The 61-year-old is chief of Khaye Sérère, a rural Senegalese village in the western Thiès region, but he’s also the proud owner of a personal solar system, which is providing his home with electricity for the first time in his life.
Due to their remote location and low incomes, only 10% of rural households in west Africa have access to electricity. Most rely on an unhealthy concoction of candles, kerosene lamps and battery-powered torches, but new solar initiatives are providing an alternative.


In December 2015, Dakar-based Oolu Solar came to Khaye Sérère offering a solar home system (SHS) that allowed households to charge small electrical items and power lamps; Ciss was one of its first clients. “Before Oolu, I used to use one or two candles every night,” Ciss explains, sitting on a low, wooden bed, a lens-shaped lamp above his door brightening the room. “Each candle cost 1500 CFA (£2), but now I only spend around 110 CFA (£0.15) per day.”

Recurring costs add up: the World Bank estimated that sub-Saharan Africans were spending $10.5bn each year on non-renewable light sources. With solar power costing him just 3,500 CFA (£4.70) per month, Ciss now has more funds for daily activities, such as feeding the chickens and goats that totter in his courtyard. Here are six more ways solar is benefiting Senegalese homes and communities. read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/energise-africa/2018/nov/15/power-of-the-sun-the-many-ways-solar-is-brightening-lives-in-africa

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