Affordable, pay-as-you-go solar power will be supplied to 100,000 off-grid homes in Ghana over the next 2 years.
Announced at the recent Solar & Off-Grid Renewables West Africa Event; Azuri Technologies has partnered with Oasis African Resources for the program that will focus on cocoa farming regions in the country. An estimated 5 million people in rural Ghana are without access to mains grid power.
“This initiative supports the Government’s commitment to fully incorporate renewable energy into our energy supply mix, as outlined by the President during his State of the Nation’s Address,” said Ghana’s Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor.
” The Ministry of Power is pleased to support this project for rural households, and will also explore other avenues with Oasis, Azuri and other renewable energy partners to establish solar as a significant and reliable power source for micro enterprises in both rural and urban communities.”
Households will be supplied with Azuri Technologies’ Quad product; which consists of a 10W solar panel, 4 LED lamps, a USB port and connectors for charging cell phones, a radio/MP3 player and digital switching.
The lamps were designed in partnership with Philips Lighting to provide optimal output for at least 15,000 hours, or 2,500 days based on 6 hours of use each night.
Customers will pay for the system incrementally by the regular purchase of top-up credit, which Azuri says will usually cost less than the lighting costs and phone charging fees being replaced. The purchase of top-ups allows the system to be paid off over approximately 18 months.
The roll-out will build on previous successful pilot deployments in Ghana that have occurred over the last 18 months.
In 2013, Azuri Technologies was a winner of the International Ashden Award for its ‘Indigo Duo’ starter solar home systems consisting of two lights and equipment for cell phone charging. Also a pay-as-you-go system, it enabled customers to pay for their energy and equipment with scratchcards over a period of time.
Azuri Technologies is based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with staff in Uganda, Ghana and Ethiopia and a presence in 10 countries across sub Saharan Africa. Azuri says it has the widest reach of any pay-as-you-go solar service in sub Saharan Africa.
Ghana is becoming a hotbed of activity for solar; spurred on by the nation’s deepening energy crisis. Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics Africa launched a Digital Village at the Volo community in the country’s Volta Region.
Ghana has a non-hydro renewables target of 10% by 2020. This could be exceeded with just two major projects; the 225 megawatt Ayitepa wind farm and the 155-megawatt Nzema solar PV project.
