Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2019, 770 million people live without access to electricity – 10.2% of the global population. Electrification typically begins in cities and towns and gradually extends to rural areas, however, this process often runs into obstacles in developing nations. Expanding the national grid is expensive and countries consistently lack the capital to grow their current infrastructure. Additionally, amortizing capital costs to reduce the unit cost of each hook-up is harder to do in lightly populated areas. If countries are able to overcome these obstacles and reach nationwide electrification, rural communities will be able to reap considerable amounts of economic and social development.
The Great Lakes refugee crisis is the common name for the situation beginning with the exodus in April 1994 of over two million Rwandans to neighboring countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Many of the refugees were Hutu fleeing the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which had gained control of the country at the end of the genocide. However, the humanitarian relief effort was vastly compromised by the presence among the refugees of many of the Interahamwe and government officials who carried out the genocide, who used the refugee camps as bases to launch attacks against the new government led by Paul Kagame. The camps in Zaire became particularly politicized and militarized. The knowledge that humanitarian aid was being diverted to further the aims of the genocidaires led many humanitarian organizations to withdraw their assistance. The conflict escalated until the start of the First Congo War in 1996, when RPF-supported rebels invaded Zaire and sought to repatriate the refugees.
The developing nations of Africa are popular locations for the application of renewable energy technology. Currently, many nations already have small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation providing energy to urban and rural populations. These types of energy production are especially useful in remote locations because of the excessive cost of transporting electricity from large-scale power plants. The applications of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems that face Africans every day, especially if done in a sustainable manner that prioritizes human rights.
Gasabo is a district (akarere) in Kigali city, the capital of Rwanda. The headquarter of Gasabo is located in Remera Sector. The district also includes large areas of the city itself, including Kacyiru, Kimironko, Remera, Nyarutarama and Kimihurura.
Gaspar Makale was one of the pioneers of solar electrification in the African Great Lakes. During the 1990s, he was the Chief Solar Technician at the KARADEA Solar Training Facility (KSTF) in Karagwe District, Kagera in Northern Tanzania, situated between Lake Victoria and Rwanda.
Operation Support Hope was a 1994 United States military effort to provide immediate relief for the refugees of the Rwandan genocide and allow a smooth transition to a full United Nations humanitarian management program. The inhabitants of the camp consisted of approximately two million Hutus, participants in the genocide, and the bystanders, who had fled Rwanda as the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front took control of the country. On July 22, 1994 President Clinton announced Operation Support Hope. Two days later, American joint task forces were airlifted to Goma, Zaire; Kigali, Rwanda; Entebbe, Uganda; and Mombasa, Kenya. U.S. Air Force liaison officers were assigned to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) air operations cell in Geneva and assigned to joint logistics cells and civil-military operations centers in the field.
A solar lamp, also known as a solar light or solar lantern, is a lighting system composed of an LED lamp, solar panels, battery, charge controller and there may also be an inverter. The lamp operates on electricity from batteries, charged through the use of solar panel
Kigali Solaire is a solar power plant in Rwanda and at the time of construction was Africa's largest grid-tied solar energy installation. It was built in 2006 on Mont Jali near the capital Kigali. The plant is using photovoltaics and has a peak output of 250 kW and an estimated annual output of 325,000 kWh. It was financed by the German city of Mainz's utility company Stadtwerke Mainz AG, with Mainz being the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, which has a partnership with Rwanda.
Lifeline Energy is a non-profit social enterprise that provides technology solutions for off-grid learning. The organization designs, manufactures and distributes solar and wind-up media players and radios for classroom and group listening and was behind the first solar and wind-up radio for humanitarian use which launched in 2003. Since it began operations in 1999 more than 550,000 wind-up and solar powered radios and media players have been distributed, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of listeners have been reached, as classrooms of up to 60 children or listening groups can use each radio or media player.
Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA) is a non-governmental organization that provides relief services to countries in Africa. It was founded by Dr. David Zawde in 1994 in response to the Rwandan genocide.
WakaWaka is a global social enterprise that developed and sold portable solar products for people without access to electricity. The company was founded in 2012 by Maurits Groen and Camille van Gestel. WakaWaka means “shine bright” in Swahili. For every WakaWaka purchased, one solar light was donated to a family living without access to electricity. In July 2018 TSM Business School took over the brand name and the remaining stocks of WakaWaka, after the enterprise went bankrupt after failing to raise EUR 2.5 million in growth capital.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to solar energy:
Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. is an Indian power provider which sells its products in more than 90 countries. The company provides power back-up for both domestic as well as industrial markets, and focuses on eco-friendly energy like solar power. Some of the major products include solar charge controller, solar power conditioning units, solar grid-tie inverters, solar off-grid power systems, home inverters, home UPS, Online UPS, line interactive UPS, batteries, battery chargers and battery equalizers.
BioLite is a New York City-based startup company that produces off-grid energy products for outdoor recreational use and emerging markets. The company is known for its wood-burning stoves that use thermoelectric technology to create usable electricity from the heat of their fires. It was founded in 2006.
Most of Kenya's electricity is generated by renewable energy sources. Access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy is one of the 17 main goals of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Development of the energy sector is also critical to help Kenya achieve the goals in Kenya Vision 2030 to become a newly industrializing, middle-income country. With an installed power capacity of 2,819 MW, Kenya currently generates 826 MW hydroelectric power, 828 geothermal power, 749 MW thermal power, 331 MW wind power, and the rest from solar and biomass sources. Kenya is the largest geothermal energy producer in Africa and also has the largest wind farm on the continent. In March 2011, Kenya opened Africa's first carbon exchange to promote investments in renewable energy projects. Kenya has also been selected as a pilot country under the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programmes in Low Income Countries Programme to increase deployment of renewable energy solutions in low-income countries. Despite significant strides in renewable energy development, about a quarter of the Kenyan population still lacks access to electricity, necessitating policy changes to diversify the energy generation mix and promote public-private partnerships for financing renewable energy projects.
Kepler is a nonprofit higher education program that operates a university campus in Kigali, Rwanda. It is one of the first programs worldwide to integrate massive open online courses (MOOCs), flip teaching, and other education technology practices into a blended learning curriculum, with the goal of lowering the cost of higher education without a reduction in academic quality or outcomes. All graduates of the program receive an accredited U.S. degree through the competency-based College for America at Southern New Hampshire University.
Energy use in Rwanda is undergoing rapid change at the beginning of the 21st century.
Salinee Tavaranan is a mechanical engineer who specializes in solar power and other forms of sustainable energy. She is the project director of Border Green Energy Team (BGET) and the CEO and founder of the company SunSawang, making green energy systems available to remote populations. She received a 2014 Cartier Women's Initiative Award for her work providing renewable energy to remote areas in Thailand.
The Stichting IKEA Foundation is a Dutch foundation founded in 1982 by Ingvar Kamprad, a Swedish billionaire and founder of IKEA. The foundation is funded by the Stichting INGKA Foundation. Initially focused on architecture and interior design, its scope expanded in 2009 to include "improving children's opportunities". In 2020, total grants disbursed by the foundation amounted to $220.67 million.
