by Maxwell Chivasa
Zimbabwe hosts the biggest scientific event ever to be held on the Africa continent, the International Solar Energy Congress from September 11 to 15, 1995.
Nearly 600 solar experts will be in Harare next week for the congress which is being hosted by the Zimbabwe International Solar Energy Society and the International Solar Energy Society. Preparations for the summit were handled by a Zimbabwean company, In Search of the Sun (Pvt) Ltd.
For the first time, the World Solar Summit Process, of which Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was elected chairman, earlier this year, will be taking part in this event.
The appointment of President Mugabe to head this world solar body added a political impetus to the otherwise strictly scientific proceedings. A meeting of International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and the America Solar Energy Society held last year pointed out that solar projects would not gain much recognition without political and government commitment.
Under the theme of this year’s congress, “In Search of the Sun”, it is hoped that scientists and people involved in this technology, will examine ways of making solar energy more accessible to the ordinary people and show the diversity of solar power application. For now, it continues to be a form of energy for the affluent.
The World Resource Institute reports that demand for energy in developing nations will double in 15 years. Alternative sources of energy thus need to be found and solar forms one.
Basically, solar energy is the capture and conversion of sunlight into electric energy. The sunlight energy is captured by solar panels and stored in a battery cell.
Among commodities to be exhibited to demonstrate use of solar energy will be solar-driven race cars from the United States and Germany and new portable computers.
Lunch hour music with solar powered amplification will be provided while cooking during lunch hour will also be solar powered, which should be of interest to environmentalists who campaign against the culling down of trees for firewood.
Also possible is the treatment of water without using chemicals but solar technology to eliminate waterborne diseases.
Some observers have cited the formidable costs of installing the solar panels as an impediment to people.
It has been suggested that scientists should provide cheaper solar panels or cheaper methods of manufacturing them to make the material more affordable. Currently most of the equipment on solar power installation is imported.
In southern Africa, development of the solar power technology is increasingly gaining popularity. Zimbabwe, for example, has had a few trials of locally manufactured photo· voltaic cells. The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) has already given out more than 1 500 loans for solar lighting systems in the rural areas.
Solar energy is also being used for lighting in urban areas in Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi.
Although it is the hope of many African governments to install electricity in remote villages, that remains impossible as hydro-electric schemes are costly and call for heavy external borrowing.
Large-scale dam cons1ruction is also becoming unpopular with environmentalists as it has killed many rivers and failed to be sustainable due to drought.
At this stage, any plans to distribute hydro-electricity into remote centres should run parallel with economic growth and grandiose hydro-electric schemes would not be useful where some countries such as Zimbabwe and Botswana import power.
Some analysts believe that investment in solar energy is therefore a better option. A solar energy installation does not cost as much as the hydro-electric schemes where the latter entails hundreds of kilometres of transmission grids.
It makes a difference to use solar power in remote villages with a view to reducing the workload of people, especially women, who currently walk long distances to fetch firewood.
One disadvantage that solar however, has, is the cost of installation. It might be expensive to install for the first time compared to conventional electricity installations, but eventually it works out to be far much cheaper considering the bills for the latter.
In such remote villages where electricity is unlikely to reach, some experts describe solar energy as appropriate 1echnology, while others disagree that it is not because its initial cost is beyond the reach of its intended beneficiaries.
At a recent workshop on Appropriate Technology (AT) held in Harare, a Tanzanian official told participants, “Flying is appropriate technology for travelling between Harare and Dar es Salaam because that is the most convenient although it is very expensive, so is solar to us in Africa.”
Another major weakness of solar energy, is its current inability to replace firewood as it does not have enough energy for stoves and other heavy duty electrical appliances. The congress in Harare will therefore need to come up with recommendations on how solar energy can be sustainably harnessed. (SARDC)
