ENERGY players have called on the Government to prioritise quality in the importation of solar products as this form of renewable energy alternative is ideal for kerosene which is expensive and a threat to the environment.
The country is currently spending over US$35 million annually on consumable kerosene importation which it subsidises for many poor households within urban, peri-urban and rural areas, many of whom still cannot afford it and use firewood instead.
Speaking to The Patriot Zonful Energy’s chief executive officer, William Ponela, said government needs to put importing standards to address environmental pollution.
“Government needs to seriously look at having a recycling process of solar products but this can firstly be addressed by ensuring that it puts standards on products imported. This will allow that solar products imported are durable because solar panels can last up to 25 years while batteries up to 10 years,” Ponela said.
“Quality checks will do a lot to improve environmental pollution. Government needs to encourage foreign and local investors to invest in the recycling of solar products but the problem with that at the moment, is that there is not much stock. The concept of solar is still new in Zimbabwe and people are trying to recover from the fake products that were once on the market hence the thinking by many people that solar is unsustainable.”
The use of kerosene in cooking is harmful to humans.
Inhaling kerosene has long and short term effects, among them a change in the way you smell or taste things, dizziness or nausea neurological or kidney damage, including blood clots that damage the brain, heart or other organs.
Kerosene poisoning can result in vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps or swelling in the stomach, coughing, restlessness, and drowsiness or unconsciousness.
Wood smoke on the other hand causes irritation of the eyes, throat, sinuses, and lungs, headaches, reduction in lung function, especially in children.
Lung inflammation or swelling, increases risk of lower respiratory diseases triggering attacks (such as asthma, and bronchitis) leading to the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Products such as the Distributed Renewable Energy technologies (DREs) and business models have enabled 25 million people living beyond the electricity grid to gain access to clean, modern energy for the first time all over the world.
Initiatives like Power for All promote accelerated deployment of energy renewables and there is need of shifting priority from business as usual of grid extensions to stand alone systems and other decentralised schemes.
Calls by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in September 2011 at the launch of the Sustainable Energy For All SE4ALL Initiative have made governments realise the need to have all people access energy.
UN SE4ALL initiative is a global force for catalysing the efforts of various stakeholders around achieving SE4ALL by 2030 by setting targets around Universal Energy Access, Renewables and Energy Efficiency.
It is estimated that at least 1, 3 billion people in the world have no access to energy and two million deaths a year occur due to lack of energy.
Engineer Hilton Chingosho, said communities need to be empowered in order to be able to identify durable solar products.
‘There are a lot of cheap solar products which are on the market and there is need for people to verify where the products are produced. It does not mean that all products produced in China are not genuine but a consumer needs to understand his or her energy needs, the number of appliances, time and nature of use and the quality of the equipment being bought for their household use,” Engineer Chingosho said.
“These will help calculate the energy use for the day and the whole year. A professional solar installer understands where and which direction to install the panel so that it maximizes the energy at noon when they should absorb more energy. What consumers need to know is that not all houses are at the correct angle or tilt hence the solar panels need the correct tilt. In the southern region all panels must face north.
Maintenance of the panels is also necessary as dirty panels lose 30 percent of energy since energy cells absorb the heat, so the panels must be cleaned with a clean cloth and water.
The size of panels is not related to the energy output hence consumers need to buy solar panels looking at their operating parameters.
“People also need to pick out a genuine product from simple facts like how the salesperson looks and the questions they ask.”
Wellington Madumira an official from ZERO Regional Organisation said standards will help change the negative perception on solar products.
“Quality checks should be mandatory to all renewable energy suppliers and this will help to change how consumers perceive renewable energy products. Quality checks should be done at all points of entry. Quality control will help to make sure that consumers will get genuine products,” said Madumira.
“The ZERA website has got certified companies that can provide genuine solar products. Solar can be an alternative for kerosene and firewood but it will be expensive for cooking. I would encourage an energy mix where solar is used for lighting and entertainment while other options can be used for cooking especially at household level. This will lessen the time women and children are exposed to harmful products” he added
Such solar systems as the Home System 120 Plus which has motion sensors of a phone charging system and controlled by phone, high technology solar products ideal and tailor-made for peri-urban and rural areas.
However, bringing such high technology solar products into the country has been a challenge as these do not reach customers in time.
Challenges which include delay in foreign currency allocation and the lead time to get the manufactured goods delivered have not made things any easier. This is exacerbated by the fact that manufacturers only produce upon receipt of payment.
Liquid and debt finance investors have however, shown interest in closing on a funding deals following government’s move to remove the customs tax on solar products.
Zimbabwe has a lot of potential in terms of solar energy since the concept is relatively new.