2023-12-07 23:05:02
Last episode of our series on access to electricity in Africa, with individual solar kits which provide basic electrification in areas furthest from the electricity grid. These domestic solar systems are made up of a solar panel which can power one or more light bulbs and charge a phone, and they are enjoying growing success on the continent. In Togo, where the government launched an ambitious rural electrification program in 2018, the French company MOON is one of four private operators responsible for deploying these solar kits.
From our special correspondent,
At 7 p.m., the village of Degbevi Condji was already plunged into almost total darkness. But light – and music – escape from Yao Guinnou’s house. A bulb powered by a solar kit lights up her sewing machine. The tailor wrote the date of his installation of this electrical system on one of the beams of his house: “ October 7, 2021 ».
« I work nights. When there was no kit we used the torch, but when the batteries die and the power goes down you are forced to leave the work and go to bed before starting once more the next day. »
A few kilometers away, the village of Kpodzo Condji emerged from obscurity only a few months ago. The majority of the eleven families who live in this isolated community have adopted the solar kits distributed by the French company MOON, and benefit, as part of the CIZO program, from a subsidy from the Togolese state which makes the service accessible. Amevi Djodjinon is team leader in the lakes prefecture: “ Our MOON kit is inexpensive. With a first contribution of 2000 CFA francs, you have light for a month. After 30 days, the light will turn off. You will pay 1 585 francs per month. You make 1 585 francs times 36 to find the total cost and the kit belongs to you ».
Systematic recovery of solar kits
The solar kit provides initial access to electricity by powering three bulbs and a USB charging port. Thanks to this system, Bossou Maoussi, mother of four children, can see the scorpions or snakes that sometimes slip into her house following dark.
« My husband is a teacher in another region and he is often absent. Thanks to this lighting, I can now see if a malicious person is approaching my home and alert the neighborhood. Before, we mightn’t see anything at all, everything was plunged into darkness. So, we do everything possible to pay for the rental of the kit each month, we manage. »
The question arises of the sustainability of these domestic solar systems and the pollution they can cause. To overcome this problem, MOON offers free following-sales service for three years, then extended by a paid warranty.
Prince Monsekea is responsible for deploying the kits in Togo: “ We can intervene in three days maximum. Recovery is carried out for customers who are unable to pay, there, we are forced to terminate the contract. We always manage to collect our kits ».
Togo plans to provide solar kits to 500,000 homes. Around a quarter of them have already been equipped by one of the four private service providers partners in this rural electrification program.
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