Something that has always struck me as strange is that no matter how unreliable the national power company’s supply is, there’s just not that many people that consider solar power an alternative. By the urban middle class, solar is regarded either as a rich people’s luxury, or, on the other extreme, a rural village utility.
After getting information for example that Econet was trailing their Home Power Station in Zimbabwe, I approached a contact at the company and asked how I could get a trial unit. His response was, “you stay in the city, why do you need it?”
I’m curious to compare its total cost of ownership to the power company’s tariffs. I’m curious to compare it to buying my own solar rig! Should we be thinking more about this?
I’m no renewable energy expert, so I appeal to those of you that are to help us with information? Why hasn’t solar uptake increased dramatically in Zimbabwe especially in the past 7 or so years when ZESA has been unreliable? Why aren’t we keen to produce our own power? Or are we? Is solar that much more expensive to have over say 2 years or so? Will the prepaid ZESA meters force people to think of alternatives?
14 comments
there is only one explanation, where to buy the solor pannels and how much you will be charged duty,
how about producing them ? someone has to do it right
I totally agree, producing them is the way to go
I have been following the trends and technology around solar and i am very much disappointed when Zim urbanites keep crying about ZESA. If you are serious about your life style, you will invest some cash and discover you really dont need ZESA. Yes, you can be 100% “off-grid” like many Clinics in our rural Zimbabwe. Below is a summary of items that can be powered by solar.
1, TV, Home Theater, Radio and Decorder
2. Water Heating – Solar gysers reduce your bill by as much as 70%
3. Water pumping. You can pump water from a borehole or well as deep as 30m
4. Lights and charging phones
5. Electric gate. For those who don’t know, a normal electric gate runs on a 12V or 24V battery (motor bike battery size), that is charged by ZESA. Ever wondered why your gate still opens even if there is no ZESA?
6. Electric fence – also runs from a battery based UPS and thats why the wire stays on even if ZESA goes
7. Cooling – aircons can run on solar. This is a luxury in Zim
8. Fridge – yes you can run a fridge 247
Now from the above list, only the Stove is left. In which case, you get yourself a gas stove and you are 100% of the grid! If the Zim companies want to rip you off on the gas stove, get onto the bus and cross the border. they are very affordable across Limpopo.
The setup above is quiet expensive but the trick is to build your solar home slowly according to your wallet. For starters you need lights, charger, TV and Radio. Lets call it Phase 1.
To power those things you need about 2X100W panels, 2 (deep cycle) batteries, inverter, charge controller, wiring , bulbs and the lights. That will cost you around $700 across Limpopo (Zim companies add crazy markups – another discussion for another day). Solar products only pay VAT (15%) at the border, so all in all you can have the Phase 1 completed for around $1,000. Now that’s a lot of money, but wait, if you put $100 aside from January, by October you have the $$ for Phase 1. and don’t tel me its impossible cse most of us have ex-japs worth over $7,000 that we bought cash!
Now after phase one, all you need is to add more batteries and more panels. And you can do that at your own pace. By the way a Borehole does NOT need batteries.
NB: Remember you need to decide early what voltage your system will run on- 12V or 24V or 48V. 24V is recommended.
Lets wake up guys and be creative. For those who want to buy in China, check out http://www.alibaba.com
Funny this topic has come up, was watching Dragon’s Den and there was in interesting pitch that got me thinking. They talked about Solar just like everyone does, get use it get off the grid but there was one very important aspect I think no one thinks about and that’s pluging back into the grid and feeding your excess Solar directly into the Zesa grid and get payouts depending on your contribution. This is how private power companies can be started and not be a treat to ZESA as they would own the infrastructure to distribute the power.
After a little more research I discovered that this has worked so well in places like Australia that the power companies have had to increase their cable thickness to store/hold the power as there is too much power being generated by all these homes?
I have no idea why ZESA has not explored this option and have a feedback tariff which pays people out. I think it would lead to a bigger adoption of Solar and solve issues at the same time. Imagine Zimbabwe exporting Power again!
Zimbabweans lack innovation. Unlike other countries were Economic meltdown brought about innovation, we do the OPPOSITE. Our innovation centres around how/where can i get the next dollar. Remember “kuburner mari”?? That’s the best we can do! When it comes to real solutions, our education system did not get as far as that…!
The Zimbabwean mentality is not of growing the economy/business but of making his/her own money. Hence the many obstacles one faces when they
“innovate”. The word you maybe looking for or similar to what you are referring to is “patriotism”. Do we have that for our country? Also it’s not lacking innovation but just merely one wanting to survive in the economic turmoil. Survival of the fittest.
There is a new company introducing this solution however there are still in talks with ZESA. Information I have is that the product will be available to the public before the end of the year.
However it will still be expensive and expect to spend at least $10 000 for a full system.
I guess people are afraid to climb their roof to wash it off
hahahaha…classic! I clean mine with a long (3m) mop. takes less than 10mins…and i do it once a month and forget about it during the rain season (oct – may)
A full solar system is more expensive than both grid power (ZESA) and generator with payback periods of 15 years and more. Hopefully the capital cost for solar will continue decreasing, and with increasing tariffs, solar will soon be competitive. This is the same not only in Zimbabwe, but in other countries as well
The technology has moved so fast in the last few months, the new trends are towards a 24volt dc solution. This allows super efficient LED bulbs that are reasonably priced. The secret is more in the solar panel controllers. Old tech pwm controls are only about70% efficient. Low wattage mppt controls are close to 99,7% efficent and now available in low wattage. Being mounted on the panel itself allows better and more efficient control. But its a African solution and not rest of world solution…
The truth of the matter I think is this: (1) Insufficient marketing/ awareness of alternatives, probably the biggest reason, (2) No disposable cash to invest in this and (3) Lots of people don’t own their own homes and therefore rely on mostly crooked/ greedy landlords who would rather take the cash and never give anything back!
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