According to the executive director of Power Smart, Mr Deji Sura solar energy is the answer to an uninterrupted power supply to homes in africa. It is also the cheapest means.
“The mobile phone revolution is forcing millions of poor Africans to demand for electricity as more people now depend on their mobile phones to contact relatives, obtain general news and information, Sura says in an interview to the News Agency Of Nigeria (NAN), pointing out how mobile phones has changed the demand for consumption of power.
“Small towns and villages that were not considered a priority by governments now have a huge demand for electricity,’’ he said.
These villages are so remote and too spread apart that it will take decades and billions of investments in dollars to take electricity to all corners, he opined.
He noted that what Africa needed now was an alternative that was cheap, easily availiable, easy to deploy, decentralised and effective enough to provide electricity to millions of people in the shortest possible time.
The executive director said solar power was abundant and free because most of Africa sits on the earth’s equator which makes the sun’s radiation reach even the remotest parts.
Sura also called on the government to adopt a more rational approach in order to make effective use of the energy and advised them to also partner with solar energy entrepreneurs, either by subsidising photovoltaic panels or enforcing favourable legislation to improve production of more solar panels.
He also said the government could further accelerate the adoption of solar power by going into partnership with real estate agencies citing the Kaduna Housing Project.