CAPACITY: THE CASE FOR SOLAR ENERGY IN UGANDA

Very few Ugandans are connected to the electrical grid; only 8% of Ugandans, the majority in Kampala, are connected. In rural areas, 95% of people live without electricity. Biomass (wood, charcoal) make up 93% of total energy supply, and 3% is generated via one hydroelectric dam at Jinja. The Jinja dam is the only source, aside from small scale generators, of electricity in the country. Electricity blackouts are frequent and last for a few minutes to several days. Ugandans, witnessing the consistent disrepair of the electrical grid and the inability of the government to resolve the problems of energy access, staged massive protests in the spring of 2011 leaving nine dead and hundreds arrested.  

Many people in developing countries depend on kerosene to fuel their indoor and outdoor lanterns. The kerosene is transported in highly dangerous ways, including filling up plastic or glass soda pop bottles, like you see here.

During the frequent blackouts that occur in Northern Uganda, people resort to using personal generators, like this one. They are loud, create a lot of exhaust, and are very expensive to maintain.

 

Burning kerosene and charcoal brings with it a myriad of health problems. The World Bank estimates that smoke inhalation from indoor cooking is the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Through anecdotal evidence collected via numerous interviews with village women, it is suggested that everyone using a kerosene lamp or cooking with charcoal will burn themselves at least once, often several times, as the scars on arms and hands can attest. Smoke exposure also causes eye diseases, and reading at night to the light of a kerosene lamp is a major cause of damaged vision leading to blindness, as the light is often extremely dim. Interviews with local villagers also suggest that property damage is common for people using flame-based lamps; most interview participants said that they had themselves or knew of someone who had destroyed their home due to fire. Premature death caused due to people trapped inside burning homes is a less common, but an especially dire result of using these antiquated lighting and cooking techniques.

Deriving energy from kerosene and charcoal also limits what off-grid Ugandans can consume. You cannot run a radio with kerosene; leaving off-grid (mainly rural residents) vastly underserved and under informed. Radio is the most prevalent form of information dissemination in Uganda, leaving rural areas particularly vulnerable to information disparity. A second limitation affecting education is that rural students cannot study at night if there is no light. Rural students fall behind their urban counterparts, leading to a future of missed opportunities and potentially a continuation of the poverty that has affected their parents.

The cost of kerosene and charcoal must be measured in Ugandan shillings, but also in time spent accessing these resources. Again, village residents are disadvantaged as they have to travel longer distances than their urban counterparts to purchase fuel. Through interviews, women confessed that they use kerosene and charcoal several times a day, and often make a daily trip into town. Kerosene sells at Ugandan shillings 30,500 for one litre. Charcoal sells at Ugandan shillings 25,000 for a large bag that may last a few weeks.



Many entrepreneurs start up cell phone charging stations to serve those who lack access to personal electricity. Most Ugandans have one, if not many, cell phones to use for personal banking, news gathering, and of course, to talk to others.

The cost to recharge a cell phone is between 300-400 Ugandan shillings (between 13 and 20 cents Canadian). The stations are almost always located in town where there is an electrical grid. Many rural farmers make trips that last up to two hours one way to charge their phone.

Ugandans have adopted the cell phone as the means of communication and banking of choice, mirroring the cell phone’s popularity in other developing countries. Disruption of cell phone access is a risk; in Ugandan villages, cell phones are often the sole banking access route. To recharge cell phones, villagers must trek into urban areas and often leave their device at the service station for two days. This increases incidental costs such as time spent getting to town, as well as the price of fuel or transport.



Some, but not many, small villages have one person that has a solar panel. This village monopoly results in increased costs to charge a cell phone: between 600 and 1,000 Ugandan shillings (24 to 40 cents). This is a 100% increase in price for rural residents when compared to urban charge stations, where the cost is between 300 and 500 shillings.

What does this mean? The environmental impact of millions of Ugandans burning charcoal and kerosene is twofold; the deforestation resulting in charcoal production increases CO2 levels by emitting CO2 into the atmosphere as well as reducing the forested area that captures the CO2. The present state of Uganda’s energy system means that productivity is very low. The latent potential in all rural Ugandans is also unexploited; energy disparity only aggravates the growing urban/rural educational divide.

Solar panels have been in the Uganda market for years. However, the first wave of panels were cheaply made and thus today many Ugandans have doubts of the efficacy of solar technology. This is a major barrier to any solar project.
 

Solar Energy: A silver bullet?

A substantial advantage lies in Uganda’s year-round, consistent 12-hours of direct sunshine due to the country’s position on the equator. Taking advantage of this abundant resource is the logical answer to the country’s problematic energy situation. Providing a solar energy solution would solve many problems, ranging from health and well-being of people and communities, to reducing the environmental impact caused by the millions burning charcoal and kerosene. Solar energy distribution can also create business opportunities for the upstart entrepreneur or village savings group, providing much needed income to people who often live on less than $2 a day. Giving villagers the possibility to earn money means they have a vested interest in keeping the business running, ensuring sustainability.

Potential Target Market:

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to approximately 590 million people who live without connection to the national electric grid. Most of the off-grid population use fossil-based fuels or charcoal; this method is dangerous to the user’s health, is highly polluting, and demands constant operational costs. A safe, affordable, durable solution that is also good for the environment is required. Solar lamps and cell phone chargers provide this solution.

Developing profitable, self-sustaining, solar-based small businesses has the ability to give much-needed income to entrepreneurs desiring financial freedom and self-respect. Developing business-based solutions to pressing social problems in a Ugandan context requires creativity and non-conventional thought. The Ugandan market presents a vast number of underserved consumers; a solar energy distribution project is one way to address the problem of energy inaccessibility.