The Power of the Sun

Nick Sireau, director of SolarAid, reported back from Malawi in April 2008, about its ground breaking project, funded by TRAID, to train young Malawians affected HIV/AIDS to become solar entrepreneurs.

Mirriam is 18 years old and lives in Malawi. She has two children, and one brother and one sister. Her father died of AIDS and her mother is now also sick with HIV AIDS. Every day is a struggle: finding food for her children, caring for her mother, looking after her other sick relatives – and all this with next to no income.

Yet she’s now found hope with SolarAid's initiative enabling Malawians to build, market and sell small solar products - such as solar lanterns and solar chargers for mobile phones and radios. The project is aimed particularly at young people affected by HIV/AIDS in order to provide them with more income.

SolarAid is working in partnership with local organisations in Mzuzu, in the north of Malawi. Only 2 percent of the rural population in Malawi has access to electricity.  The other 98 per cent relies on expensive kerosene for lighting, single use batteries for radios and the occasional charging of their mobile phones.  Typically, this eats into around 20 per cent of monthly income.  One microsolar panel can answer all these needs, leading to major energy savings for rural households.

Kerosene is particularly nasty.  Burning it in kerosene lamps indoors leads to lung disease, eye problems and fires.  The accidental ingestion of kerosene is also the main cause of poisoning among children in Africa. 

There's also the issue of climate change.  According to market research funded by TRAID and carried out by SolarAid in 2007, the average kerosene lamp creates around a tonne of carbon over 10 - 14 years.  With around 1 million to 1.5 million kerosene lamps in Malawi, replacing them with solar lanterns will lead to dramatic reductions in carbon emissions.

Dave and Carl are two volunteers working on this microsolar project. Just a few days ago they organised a meeting with all the key actors in Mzuzu who are interested in being involved in microsolar. The response from villagers is overwhelming: everyone is really interested in buying the panels and lanterns as they can all see the energy savings, the health benefits and the educational benefits from having them.

Maxon Chitawo, from Mzuzu University's Department of Energy, is a specialist in renewable energy.  He thinks the microsolar concept could really take off in Mzuzu and surrounding areas, as the need for safe and affordable energy is so great.

Fiskani is SolarAid's local project coordinator.  He's come up with a potential name for the microsolar panel: Mphamvu Ya Dzuma, which, in Chichewa, means 'Power of the Sun' - a fitting name for a pioneering new concept.

TRAID will keep you updated with progress of this ground breaking project. To find out more visit SolarAid's website

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