Clean Energy
Electricity is the key
Almost one billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. Yet electricity is the key to economic development, modern information and communication technologies, education and health care.
Electricity also works without a grid - with solar!
In the pilot village, different approaches of decentralised off-grid solar systems are being tested with the aim of area-wide electrification. In households, we use decentralised solar home systems to provide basic power for lighting and charging mobile devices.
We also build larger solar systems with batteries, e.g. for the electrification of schools or for so-called ‘productive use’ applications to generate income.
What electricity does
- Electric lighting replaces unhealthy technologies such as paraffin lamps
- Electric lighting prolongs the day (in the tropics, night begins around 6 pm). Electric lighting makes it possible, for example, for pupils to still do homework or read after 6 pm.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, the electrification rate is about one third of households. In contrast, more than 80% of households have a simple mobile phone or a smartphone. The share of (internet-enabled) smartphones is continuously increasing. Owning a mobile phone or smartphone, which can ideally be charged at home, is important for communication and participation, increasingly also for improving income.
- Electric outdoor lighting increases the sense of security
- Solar home systems can also power computers, tablets, radios and televisions, which is also important for participation and also education.
- Income can be generated or food secured through the use of "productive use" equipment such as refrigerators, mobile phone charging stations, mills, pumps, irrigation systems, welding equipment, large televisions or projectors for film screenings.
Explanation Solar Home System (SHS)
Cooking makes you sick?
Three billion people use cooking appliances whose exhaust fumes are harmful to the health of people in the household. Worldwide, four million people die each year from respiratory diseases caused in this way. In addition, the use of firewood and charcoal contributes to deforestation.
In the very rural part of our project area, people cook with wood on the traditional three-stone fireplaces, mostly indoors without a good smoke outlet. Charcoal, gas and ethanol are too expensive, are therefore not bought and are only offered, if at all, in the market towns and larger urban centres. Solar home systems, which we also support, do not provide enough power for cooking. So the pragmatic first choice is an optimised wood-fired cooking stove.
We have entered into a partnership with the local organisation Safer Rwanda, which, with the support of the German organisation Atmosfair, sells optimised stainless steel cooking stoves called Save80. These are supplied with two perfectly fitting pots and a ‘Wonderbox’. This is a warming box with a lid into which the pots fit exactly.
To cook beans, they are heated on the cooking stove. As soon as the water boils with the beans, it is placed in the Wonderbox and can continue to simmer for hours without supervision. The Save80 cooking stoves use 80% less firewood than traditional three-stone fireplaces. In addition, the wood is optimally burnt in the small combustion chamber so that very little smoke is produced. The Save80 stoves can be used indoors and outdoors and are easy to transport.
What optimised cooking appliances do
- No health impairment due to complete or extensive avoidance of exhaust gases that are harmful to health
- Avoiding deforestation for the purpose of fuel procurement
- Savings in (energy) costs per meal prepared
- Greater safety in use, e.g. avoidance of fires or accidental ingestion of kerosene by children.
- It is also desirable to avoid long transport routes and save the time required for collecting firewood and the cooking process itself
- Danger of sexual assaults on children and young people when collecting firewood is reduced