Here Comes the Sun

So I thought I would continue on my blogging streak (being a whole one in a row) and write another post before LWIG and I head up north for the week. (For those of you confused by LWIG, it is simply a clever reference to Lindsay Wiginton). You will be happy to know that we have developed a multitude of nicknames for each other over the course of the summer. Other favorites are LKW and LDubs. 

The purpose of our field trip north will be to investigate the baseline socioeconomic level of three different communities prior to the provision of a solar lighting project, entitled Affordable Lighting for All (or ALFA). Although our focus will primarily be on determining the way that households, businesses, and public institutions CURRENTLY use their lighting devices, learning about the project as a whole has stimulated quite a bit of thought and discussion into the role of solar lighting.

I’ll try and give you a bit of a better understanding of the current lighting situation (as we understand it now). People in electrified communities (also known as towns that have VRA, the public agency which distributes power from the Akosombo dam) mostly use compact fluorescent lightbulbs for their needs. This is positive because, due to a government campaign over the past few years, almost everyone has access to the CFLs which are tremendously energy efficient. (Most people in Canada will not even shell out the “big-bucks” to purchase them, or they do not like the slightly different hue of color it gives off). The lighting charge per month (light also refers to electricity in general—which will certainly make our surveying rather difficult) is based on how many appliances and lights you have plugged in. The main challenges are that it can get rather expensive with lots of lights and appliances, and in past years, due to the drier conditions than normal in Ghana, the dam has had to reduce its provision of electricity, and thus, many blackouts have occurred.

For communities which do not have access to electricity, or in areas of an electrified town where there is no easy access to an outlet, kerosene is the most common lighting source. The kerosene is purchased on a monthly basis for between 4 and 6 Ghana Cedis (approximately equivalent to USD) from a local market. It is placed in lanterns built from old tins with thick wicks sticking out of them and burnt anywhere from 4 to 12 hours every night. It is really more of an inconsistent flame, but provides enough light for children to complete their base amount of homework, household tasks to be completed, and sometimes, for businesses to be open later into the evening. The smoke from the flame is by no means healthy, and with prolonged exposure over a lifetime could promote some significant safety concerns. It seems to be the best current option, though, because it is a consistent cost from month to month, and something that people have been used to using for a long period of time.

It should be noted that torch lights (or flashlights) are also used in addition to the kerosene lamps for navigation and further light when necessary. Batteries are usually also purchased from the market on a monthly basis.

So where does solar fit into all this? To tell you the truth, I really haven’t quite made sense of the complex arguments surrounding its implementation—but I’ll do my best to explain.

The idea is that, even though a solar lantern may be a large capital expenditure in the short term (as much as 125 Ghana Cedis), since you will not need to pay for fuel on a month to month basis, it is worth the investment. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, there are a few challenges which I think must be more thoroughly evaluated in order for the solar lighting to be claimed a better option with such strong conviction.

Sometimes the solar lantern may not fully replace the lighting needs the person previously had met by kerosene. (Perhaps they had 3 or 4 lanterns operating simultaneously for 5 or 6 hours). The lantern may only hold a charge for 3 or 4 hours for one night, and hence, would not meet this need. Additionally, even though the solar lantern might be more healthy, it is not the TYPE of lighting that a family is used to, and as such, they might be frustrated to use the different source. Finally, the solar lantern might break down, require a new battery, or become completely unusable. (All of which throw the beautifully constructed cash flow diagrams a little out of whack). Therefore, in addition to the loan repayments people are making for their $120 solar lantern (at 30% interest: standard across Ghana), they must start paying for the same kerosene lighting they had before.

With respect to solar use on a more macro scale, (Insert insult from Team Nunavut for using the word ‘macro.’ Again) I think there are also both opportunities as well as challenges. For very remote communities which are also not very dense in structure, solar lanterns may serve to be much less expensive than an extension of the far off grid. (Low Current grid extensions are particularly expensive). However, if the solar lighting is not subsidized by government funding, it is STILL very expensive for the community, and does not offer them a full range of electrical usage like that of alternating current from the grid. Finally, it is perhaps not quite the ‘renewable’ resource that we claim it to be. While of course the sun provides vast billions of Joules of energy across the earth, the technology required to convert the solar energy to thermal and electric is costly, energy intensive, and currently relies on rare elements from the periodic table. Without the technological ‘breakthroughs’ that are so often promised in policy development and socially based research, solar might not prove to be the renewable ‘saviour’ it is often promised to be.

I can’t emphasize enough that I am truly not as informed as I’d like to be on this topic. It has merely been another avenue of discussion which will frame my further learning and research both while in Ghana, as well as down the line. I’m sure we’ll have lots more to share after our time up north.

Have a great week!

Josh