Haven't posted anything for weeks. Part of that is because I got sucked into editing the Tanzania report. I wasn't originally supposed to edit it, but the people who were, got busy. So I ended up with an extra couple of weeks' work. 12 chapters, 200+ pages. Then a few more days because one chapter was, basically, unreadable and had to be rewritten more or less from scratch.
Two things that weren't my department, but that I found interesting.
First, the use of photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity is spreading steadily across the country. PV solar generation is growing by about 15% per year -- from a tiny base, but doubling every 4-5 years.
Since Tanzania sits on the equator, there's no shortage of sunshine: a square meter of PV solar paneling can produce about double what it does here in Germany. PV panels are being used all over the country now. Some of the popular uses include hospitals and clinics (they can run a fridge and basic lab equipment), barber shops (a couple of pairs of electric shears), rural police stations and government offices (computers, keeping lights on) and mobile phone chargers (apparently these are ubiquitous).
Apparently there are two sorts of PV panels for sale in Tanzania: ones from Europe (expensive but good) and ones from India and China (less expensive but crappy).
There are problems. To use PV solar for much more than cell phone charging, you need batteries and a modest level of electrical competence. Neither of these are present in abundance. The local universities train electrical engineers, and I assume someone is training electricians, but they tend to cluster around the larger cities and towns.
Recent Comments