Tanzania: Solar Energy Offers Cost Effective Solution
Posted on :Wednesday , 19th October 2016
In remote areas where the electricity grid has not reached, entrepreneurs are jumping on the solar bandwagon to light their communities and address their basic energy needs.
Our countries continue to depend on the availability of better and easier energy that is affordable to rural Tanzania. The renewable energy sector such as solar and gas resulting from animal waste, electricity generated by wind or waves and more sustainable use of plants in producing energy has an enormous opportunity to contribute to safe and sustainable development in towns or villages.
However, the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development (IMED) has been in the forefront in providing services to develop entrepreneurship as well as advice on various issues while also engaging with communities as they educate on the advantage of alternative energy.
IMED Chief Executive Officer Dr Donath Olomi said that their focus is not only on providing services but also they have embarked on management of multiple projects including helping small businesses, connecting experts, marketing skills and places of work.
In addition, they help businesses in building systems that require monitoring of the started project in order to make them sustainable and prosperous.
The IMED has partnered with the institute of Tanzania Renewable Energy Business Incubator (TAREBI), which deals with solar energy (solar), charcoal, better wood, biogas, standardized stoves and the production of electricity by using agricultural residue and plants such as rice bran.
There is also the reunion of partners and professionals of solar equipment, which are also involved to discuss and advise the government policies as well as managing the quality of service in the industry. This reunion is called Solar Community of Practice (COP - Solar).
Dk. Olomi said that the stakeholders of the reunion meet regularly to discuss current challenges and look on how to adopt and share experiences and come up with different ways of removing these challenges.
He pointed out that the consortium partners are now working to remove market products solar unjustified and quality, namely counterfeiting. He pointed out that the success of the institution is to form a network of entrepreneurs that would help to solve the challenges, adding that there is also a joint venture in the implementation of projects that involve public authorities over resolving the challenges facing the renewable electricity sector.
Director of Engineering from the Tanzania Industrial, Research and Development Organization (TIRDO), who is also a member of Renewable energy, Dk. Lugano Wilson said that he is among the team of stakeholders who convene to discuss challenges and opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
"When we are meeting together we learn how to solve problems related to energy, particularly renewable energy," Dr. Wilson said. He said that the union was established because the stakeholders and solar businesses have been facing problems, so they have established that it is difficult for such entities to resolve their problems on their own, adding it is easier to find solutions through their union.
"In Europe they have specific plans to pursue renewable energy but here that is still not the case. For example if the system is regulated well it makes the cost of ownership of renewable energy much more effective, "he said.
In Tanzania, there is no systematic mechanism to help these people embarking on renewable energy the reason why stakeholders sit and look at how they can help themselves.
It is therefore a joint effort taken by the stakeholders to advise both governments and consumers on the best practices in a bid to make the public have access to renewal energy. He said that the stakeholders have seen it is important to use solar energy.
Not only that, but they have seen that there are so many stakeholders in the energy sector who are interested in renewable energy. In addition, the price of solar equipment is still expensive and its quality is also a challenge and there is still vacuum in terms of imparting knowledge to the user, including technicians. In addition, the issue of policy is not comprehensive since the stakeholders are still finding ways to solve the challenges and advise the government accordingly.
"That is why the stakeholders sit, discuss, and suggest the best way to attain the quality of the renewable energy products in the market," he said. He said that it needs efficiency in packaging as everything needs expertise, in order to work properly it requires one to know how the gadgets and wires are connected. Therefore, the 80-watt solar panel placed wrongly, will provide limited electricity, less than 80 watt.
"In order for solar panels to work properly it must be place in the right position for it to generate enough energy from the sun. Often many of them are not place in the right angle," he said. He addresses the issue of price, saying it is a little wider.
Price is the contradiction that the solar equipment costs. He said that technical studies alone have the potential to reduce prices, but for now the shortcut is to talk with the government about reducing taxes.
Also through various projects possible to bring solar to the citizens such as in public services like hospitals and schools. His advice to the community is that solar is very good and important that can be preserved for a long time and is pays if you keep it.
Therefore, in order to bring benefits to the citizens we should look for quality and affordable one, advising that people should buy in certified stores, he said.
In Tanzania, where only 21% of the population has access to electricity, solar energy offers an alternative cost effective solution to improve the quality of lives of millions of people, especially in rural areas.
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