It’s stories like this that really highlight solar power’s potential for improving lives in developing nations.
Back in September last year, we reported on an initiative in Zambia where solar powered hammer mills were to be used to create jobs in milling and reduce the cost of mealie-meal, a coarse flour made from maize that forms the basis of staple foods in some African nations.
The milling of grains in Zambia has been quite an expensive exercise due to the cost of fossil fuels used to power some conventional equipment. While electric milling equipment is also used, frequent load-shedding in Zambia has impacted output, putting upward pressure on prices.
The solar milling initiative had met with some criticism and accusations that it wouldn’t be able to reduce mealie-meal pricing nor attain any reasonable level of output. However, a few months on and it seems from early indications the milling program could be a rip-roaring success.
Seven of the solar powered milling units have been installed and are now operating in Zambia’s Northern Province. In Kasama District, the price of mealie-meal has reduced from K100 per 25 kilogram bag of “breakfast” meal and K80 for roller meal to K52 and K48 respectively (around AUD $6.63 and $6.12).
It’s good news, but the rollout isn’t happening quite as quickly as originally intended or hoped. Just 100 of the 2,000 units to be procured under the first phase of the program have arrived in the country and the vast majority are yet to be installed in various districts. A second phase will see an additional 2,000 mills distributed.
A hammer mill grinds grain by throwing it against the walls of the grinding chamber, in which a rotor with fixed hammers turns. The solar mills used in Zambia each have the capability of producing up to two tonnes of mealie-meal a day.
Another type of mill powered by solar panels being used elsewhere is based on a wheel mill configuration which uses a pair of grindstones or metal grinding wheels – here’s a small one in action.
