Solar Power Homes In The Third World
Creating an intense demand for energy, the third world is waiting to be filled with the light of solar energy resources.
Many third world homes are without power. Living in areas where solar energy abounds, rural residents often live in small, one-room homes. To fulfill their minimal energy needs, those that go beyond the basics of living with kerosene lamps for heat and light use batteries, generally car batteries, that they take to the nearest villages to have recharged as often as possible. Not only is this inconvenient, it's expensive. Since it's an expense that is not an absolute necessity, a resident may well go without this additional resource as well. For children attempting to study at night, without light, it's harmful to the eyes, as well as scholastic endeavors. Many energy-impoverishments occur in areas where there is no power generation.
A conventional energy supply grid just costs too much for the government or a local entity to install, especially in remote areas. Solar energy, however, both at individual sites and in larger arrays for communities in rural areas can provide a real opportunity for both "on-the-grid" and "off-the-grid" living. It's not only a viable solution; it's something that makes good sense.
The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, along with a number of other charities in the United States, are making large contributions to help third world residents get clean, renewable energy, focusing especially on solar energy, to be used for access to water as well as heat and lights.
Another very involved partner is SELF, Solar Energy Light Fund. Their mission is to "provide solar power and wireless communications to a quarter of the world's population living in energy poverty." It's a daunting mission...one they've not only taken on, but have been very successful at. Bringing solar power in western China to 1,000 households in fourteen villages, they have worked in many areas with local governments and agencies to help self-fund the building and distribution of small-scale photovoltaic systems. They have worked to help scattered Masai herder tribes acquire solar-powered telephones in Tanzania. They have installed photovoltaic systems in schools and clinics in many third world countries, and are currently very involved in a project in Haiti that will help bring solar-powered medical clinics across the country into being.
To provide fuel and shelter, many third world residents strip the available trees. In doing so, they're minimizing what foliage is available for shade and shelter not only for themselves, but for the animals. For fuel, they often burn animal dung that would otherwise be used as a fertilizer. They achieve enormous benefit by trading these sources of energy for a few solar panels. Not only can they have power for radios or small televisions, they can use one or two PV panels installed to maximize capture of the sun's energy and connected to a battery pack to provide year around heat and lights in many locations in the third world.
In addition, in many areas where water had not been available, or required residents to make a daily walk to the nearest village for water, solar energy now powers pumps that bring the water to their homes or a more central location, as well as provide power for irrigation systems that allow them to grow more crops, and create a more sustainable lifestyle.
Solar energy in third world countries is for many the difference between living in abundance and living in poverty. Many residents now have solar stoves, solar power heaters, and solar panels that produce electricity for radio and television, for lights and even computers, as well as power for drinking water and irrigation.
Helping others helps you...it helps me. As we provide support for individuals and communities to build an infrastructure to support solar energy use, we build a better world for all of us to live in.
The less all of us rely on fossil fuels to supply our basic needs, and the more we rely on renewable energy, including solar energy, the more freedom we have. We create freedom from poverty, from deterioration of non-renewable resources, and most importantly from our own self-destruction through global warming and pollution.
by: Timothy Peters
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