In Ethiopia the sun sets early in the evening and most of the country is then plunged into complete darkness. 80 percent of the population is not connected to the electricity network. However, in the villages of Rema and Kechemober in the Ethiopian Highlands there is light in the traditional round huts, the tukuls. The village people have solar energy – and light at the flick of a switch.

In 2004 a pilot project was launched in the Mida region, initiated by Menschen für Menschen together with the Solar Energy Foundation. 1,100 small solar plants have already been installed. During the day a 10 Watt module on the roof of a tukul is sufficient to charge a battery that delivers electricity for energy-saving bulbs in the evening.

The solar plants enable craftsmen in Rema and Kechemober to continue their work into the evening. Schoolchildren can do their homework, patients can be treated at the medical centre. Progress can take place here!
But there are even more benefits to solar energy: people are no longer exposed to the smoke given off by the dim and unhealthy kerosene lamps. The costs are also lower than for the harmful kerosene. A user pays no more than 17 cents per month for four lamps. The money will be used to pay for the replacement batteries needed in a few years.

For Ethiopia, as indeed for the whole of Africa, the use of renewable energy is something completely new. Over three quarters of the Ethiopian population are farmers and cattle breeders. Technical progress is very slow to reach the people, there are hardly any electricians. That’s why the pilot project goes beyond the mere installation of solar plants. Menschen für Menschen and the Solar Energy Foundation also provide support for self-development. Their projects are geared to the long term. The inhabitants of Rema and Kechemober are thus being trained to maintain and repair the solar plants themselves. In this way they are able to achieve a lasting improvement in their living conditions.
The pilot project has been so successful and was so well accepted by the population that a second village is due to be “solarised” in the near future.

 

Photo: Solar Energy Foundation