Being helpful: Solar panels in Madagascar and Kenya

I am writing this blog post from Aruba Mara camp in the Serengeti. The Kenya side of the Serengeti (where we are) is called Masai Mara because this is the traditional land of the photogenic, famous and enigmatic Masai people.

Here in the Aruba Mara camp, they use a solar power system with dry cycle batteries to power the electricity that they need. Their system has around 20 solar panels, 14 batteries, and a solar technician to maintain the system. The solar technician learned his trade in Kenya's big coastal town, Mombasa, and said that solar energy is being used all throughout Kenya.

We were all drawn to the solar system, as well as other systems in place at this eco lodge to make it self sufficient. With the Mara river on our doorstep, and the enormous park across the river banks, we are at the end of the road, in the very best way, and hence the need for systems of self sufficiency. This is the only way to have reliable, sustainable sources of essential, or near-essential, goods, such as water, refrigeration and power. We have seen such systems in place throughout our travels in Africa -- a good think in a land of vast distances, harsh climates, and spotty State infrastructure.

For example, in an earlier post, I touched on how my friends in Marofandilia were using a solar power system for energy in the village. Unfortunately, that solar power system has partially broken down. The system has two spare batteries, which only draw enough to charge people's cell phones. Before the system deteriorated, they had enough power to run a fridge. The fridge allowed the village to have cold water, coke, beer, etc. Since it is so hot in the area, those cold drinks are worth their weight in gold. The refreshments were also a very important draw for tourists as they headed to the parks that are further along the rough road; and to get those tourists in the spending mode with the village gift shop.

So Wilson and I have embarked on a quest to help get the solar panel system working again. We enlisted the assistance of his dad, Bill Korol, an expert in buildings' energy systems, and my brothers: Dave Moody, an electric journeyman, Paul Moody, an electrical engineer, and Joe Moody, a solar panel technician student. Even with this cadre of experts, the road to assisting my friends is difficult.

Assisting in getting the solar panel system up and running requires multiple steps:

(1) figure out the exact problem

(a) try to get the specifications of the solar system from the US Embassy because no one in Marofandilia had any paper work about the solar system;

(b) call Marofandilia, Madagascar (expensive and tenuous to get a good phone connection) and explain to my friend, Mihary, how to trouble shoot the system on a very sunny day (this may stretch the limits on my ability to speak Malagasy over the phone across the world in a subject I am far from an expert on in my native language)

(i) in order to trouble shoot; he must disconnect the batteries.

(ii) he then has to try to run the fridge from the inverter directly.

(2) if the problem is, as everyone suspects, the batteries, then:

(a) we need to buy new batteries because it seems that avenues for fixing the batteries have been exhausted;

(b) buying new batteries requires:

(i) access to the correct batteries (deep-cycle batteries);

(ii) money -- Mihary said that the batteries were just under $400 per battery;

(iii) figure out how many batteries are required -- before they were running the fridge on 4 batteries;

(c) education to Mihary and others about:

(i) both the correct maintenance of the batteries in the future so that they last a long time; and

(ii) the business/development concept of replacement cost and accounting for that expense throughout the productive period of operation.

The notion of replacement cost won't be lost in the village because people have already encountered this concept with the village water pumps that were installed by the Japanese in 2004. The Japanese had devised a system where people would pay money to use the water pumps so that there would be money for replacement parts. People in the village told me that even though they had collected money for the water pumps, there had not been enough money for replacement parts so a national non-profit, Fanamby, gave the money for the replacement part for one pump and the other pump is barely sputtering along because another outside organization has not given the money for the pump. Sadly, it seems that the political will to collect the money for the water pumps is actually lacking. For example, no one asked me and Wilson for money when we used the water pump while we were there, and we would have been thrilled to contribute. However, in the private enterprise of the solar panels, perhaps, Mihary and others will save up some money to replace the batteries after their useable lifespan.

Despite these issues, this project is something that we feel 100% comfortable working towards a solution. In truth, the idea of 'being helpful' here in a continent with so much need proved to be more of a challenge than we had anticipated. We were attune to good organizations, maybe not proactive but certainly open and interested in any that we could discover. But, the nature of our transitory travel meant that there just was not sufficient time or opportunity to determine whether any particular project/org was worthy. Sadly, we have heard stories of aid that was underperforming or otherwise felt off. Thus, we are going to be be working on getting the solar array back to functioning at capacity in Marofandilia, a place where we know the variables, the pay off and people.

We'll keep the blog updated about how this repair of the solar panel project, with its cadre of experts, progresses. Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated in the comments below.