Affordable solar power systems changing Kenya
Posted on : Wednesday , 13th September 2017
It is early evening in Ndabibi village in Naivasha and there are threatening clouds overhead. Kenneth Njoroge quickly parks his motorcycle by the mud structure that serves as his kitchen and rushes into the main house before the rain starts pounding.
Until recently, Njoroge’s home northwest of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, was poorly lit at night. Most people in Ndabibi are not connected to the electrical grid and rely on kerosene or small solar lamps to light their homes.
However, a month ago, the 55-year-old father of seven decided to stop using kerosene. A loan from a microfinance institution has made it possible for him to invest in a solar power system for his home.
The credit is part of a scheme being rolled out across the country to provide asset financing for families not connected to the main power grid.
Njoroge’s new equipment consists of a photovoltaic panel, three light bulbs, a battery, a radio, a flashlight and three charging ports.
The equipment has done more than provide better lighting at home and eliminate his kerosene bills: He no longer has to buy batteries for his radio and flashlight, nor go to the local shopping center to charge his mobile phone.
Njoroge is chairman of Mwanzo Mwema, a savings group formed two years ago in Ndabibi that now has 30 members.
Each month, members contribute money that is deposited with Musoni Kenya, a microcredit firm based on mobile payments. They can then take out loans based on the level of their savings.
After saving for a year, Njoroge started borrowing to buy a motorbike, lease farmland from his neighbors and buy seed and fertilizer so he could grow more corn and beans to eat and sell.
In June, Leah Mugambi, a Musoni credit officer based in Naivasha, talked to the group about the new solar home systems it is offering in partnership with d.light Inc, an international social enterprise specializing in solar products for off-grid consumers.
“Many people here do not have a connection to the national grid, so when I came to inform them, everyone in the group was interested,” Mugambi said.
Njoroge was the first member of Mwanzo Mwema to take out a loan to buy a solar home system.
Getting grid electricity is a long process in most of rural Kenya, involving tedious application forms and high fees. Njoroge applied for a connection to the national grid two years ago, but has yet to see Kenya Power and Lighting Co employees in his neighborhood.
“I know that I was [due] to pay around 30,000 shillings [US$290.84], but they have never come back since I made the application,” he said.
By contrast, it took just two weeks from the time he applied to Musoni for the loan until he was able to pick up the solar home system from the organization’s office in Naivasha.
“Connection was easy too, because everything was clear. I put the panel on the roof and then hung the lights inside. We used it that same day,” he said.
As well as being cheaper than paying monthly bills for grid electricity, Njoroge realized the system would be more affordable than kerosene in the long term.
Even with the 20 percent annual interest rate charged by Musoni for the loan, he finds his payments affordable.
Njoroge is paying 1,760 Kenyan shillings every month for 12 months, after which he will own the system outright, having paid about two-thirds of what it would have cost to get a grid connection.
Source : http://www.taipeitimes.com
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