Solar power goes rural

With an abundance of sunshine, solar power seems an obvious technology for South Africa, especially in rural areas.

Two developments this week, fittingly, in the final days of the COP17 climate control conference in Durban, show some innovative thinking - interestingly both are from cellphone operators.

Vodacom, which uses solar-powered cellphone base stations in rural areas, is providing Emfihlweni, a community in northern KwaZulu-Natal, with electricity for the first time.

It is part of a pilot project that could be rolled out to other areas, said Vodacom managing director Sipho Maseko.

"Twenty-five percent of the total electricity generated by Vodacom's base station in Emfihlweni is being used to supply power to the community water pump, a local shop that will provide a cellphone charging station for people living in the area and the local high school, which today switched on the power to its computer centre for the first time," said Maseko.

He believes "it shows how mobile operators can bridge the energy divide in communities by oversupplying base stations with renewable energy which can be diverted to critical points within the community".

African mobile operator Econet Wireless's subsidiary, Econet Solar, has launched its own solar generator for home use.

Called the Home Power Station, it is a standalone unit that can be used for power and lighting, but also to charge cellphones.

Cleverly it uses a prepaid system to "remove the requirement for high upfront costs which have until now prevented hundreds of millions of people across Africa benefiting from solar-powered lighting systems in their homes".

It has four LED lights (which use the least electricity) and a cellphone charger. A solar panel charges a battery, and needs only half a day's worth of sun to enable the lights to illuminate for five hours a day per charge.

Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman of Econet Wireless, said: "More than 500million people in Africa are living in areas where there is no access to a reliable source of power. If we are to improve the lives and prospects of Africans living beyond the reach of the grid, it is imperative that we find practical and sustainable solutions to meet their needs.

"While there are already well-intentioned solar-powered lighting systems on the market, the reality is that they are just too expensive for people to afford. We are launching the Home Power Station to change all that."

• Shapshak is editor of Stuff magazine