Em(solar)powering a Community: the Sunny Side of Mzuzu

Fiskani Msutu, Regional Manager

The earth receives more energy from the sun in merely one hour than the world uses in an entire year.

                That’s a lot of energy!

                Climate change is a major problem impacting the world, from the wealthiest nations to the poorest.  Global poverty is also an important issue facing the international community today.  One organization works to combat both with a simple strategy:  creating solar panels to provide electricity to the poorest of communities.

                SolarAid operates in many countries, mainly those in sub-Saharan Africa.  The majority of people who have access to electricity in these areas burn fossil fuels, especially kerosene, which is extremely harmful to individual health and damaging to the environment.  Economically, the average home in a developing country uses 10-20% of its income on kerosene for lighting and charging radio and mobile phone batteries (SolarAid); a market study conducted by SolarAid in Mzuzu found that 2.2 liters of kerosene were used per month in each household.  SolarAid seeks to reduce dependence upon kerosene in northern Malawi and to provide electricity to those without it, as well as to provide business for the local economy. 

                In Mzuzu, nearly 20% of the population is infected with HIV. SolarAid empowers HIV-affected people by hiring and training them to produce and assemble the solar panels.  Widows who have lost husbands to HIV/AIDS are also employed and trained.  The micro solar panels are produced by HIV-affected persons from nearby Nkata Bay and Tchipita, as well as in Mzuzu, and are then sold at an affordable cost to the local population.  One micro solar panel (four volts) can power radios and charge mobile phones, and some people have even started their own businesses charging others to use their panels. Microsolar lightbulbs have made it possible to light areas so people do not have to walk as far to have access to electricity. And with rechargeable batteries—absorbing free energy from the sun—the possibilities are endless.

 As of June 2009, over 950 microsolar panels have been sold to impoverished Malawians in the northern region, and over 1,000 light bulbs have been purchased. More than 1,967 panels have been assembled.

Fiskani Msutu is the program manager for SolarAid in Mzuzu.  Together with others he is working to train Malawians in running the businesses so the program will be operated entirely by the northern communities.  Creating a solar industry in northern Malawi has brought business to the local economy and has also made the company more accountable for its products, he says; the organization is able to guarantee the solar battery for one year and it can be repaired locally.  There is some difficulty in hiring only those with HIV/AIDS:  because HIV is a stigma in Malawi, people are not always open enough about having the virus, so it is a challenge to employ only them.  Still, for those who are employed, SolarAid is a means of giving them support and employment to provide for their needs and their families.  Through creatively combining solar energy with local production to overcome poverty while uplifting women and those with HIV,  SolarAid provides power to the people in a way that is economically and environmentally sustainable.

Major sponsors include the UK organizations Traid and the Microloan Foundation, which provides microloans to women receiving training for SolarAid as well as for other businesses.

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