'fast asleep' tanzanian port wakes up to solar power - outdoor solar street lights

Mohamed issakiju PWANI Tanzania (
Thomson Reuters Foundation-
In this Indian Ocean port town, one of Tanzania's poorest villages, residents who used to be short of electricity can now watch TV, listen to the radio, or have dinner at the well.
Outdoor food stalls were lit due to the arrival of solar energy.
Sadiki Chande Matonela, executive secretary of Kisiju Pwani, admitted that "the village soon fell asleep" before the solar panels were established last year ".
Now the street lights keep food vendors open at night, he says, and the harbor's safety lights help curb once-rampant theft.
The steady supply of electricity also led the 34-year-old Ramadani and his wife, Zainabu Thabiti, to open a pharmacy,
Since the advent of solar energy, a building materials and hardware store has also opened.
Kisiju Pwani was selected to receive solar panels from a dozen of the poorest rural areas in Tanzania.
The equipment was installed by the University of darresdan in collaboration with the University of Oslo, with support from the Norwegian development agency of $430,000.
The village contributed 20% of the cost by providing land for the mini apartment
Protect its power grid and security. The new 12-
The kW system consists of 32 photovoltaic solar panels and a set of 120 batteries that store the energy of the sun for night use. The mini-
Officials say the grid is large enough to benefit some half of the 3,994 villagers to some extent.
Its backbone is a wire that runs through half a village, and the cable is buried one metre underground for safety.
So far, the system has provided 20 street lights and energy for 68 families, 15 businesses, harbors, village government offices and two mosques.
Villagers covering the area can turn on their lights and fans, charge their phones, listen to the radio, watch TV, and pray in the well --
Only 10,000 to 20,000 Tanzanian shillings ($6-$12)
A month, local officials said.
The villagers participated in the planning and implementation of the project and a village committee was responsible for managing the project
Grid, operated and maintained by the technical team.
Bakari mwinwiwiwiwa said that the project was also specially located near the most conspicuous area of the community, "to attract the attention of many passers-by" and helped promote the technology, professor of energy at the University of dalesdan.
Located in the coastal area, Kisiju Pwani is considered one of the poorest areas on the mainland of Tanzania in terms of access to services. Located 50 km (30 miles)
The nearest town of the State Grid, Mkuranga and 100 km (60 miles)from fast-
During the planting process in darreslam, prior to the arrival of the solar panels, the village relied mainly on kerosene lighting and wood cooking.
Mwinyiwiwa said the prospect of its connection to power grid is slim.
Plans of Tanzania Electric Power Supply Corporation (TANESCO)
The only electricity supplier in China to extend power grid services to remote rural areas has failed, mainly because of the high cost and inability of rural residents to pay.
About 36% of Tanzanian people can use electricity.
But government data show that in rural areas where 80% of the population lives, only 7% have access to electricity.