Notes

Solar-Powered Televisions Brighten Homes in Rural Kenya
MACHAKOS, KENYA?
Violet Mwikali's new television have not just brought entertainment to her home. It has ushered in peace, too.

" get more info whining has stopped now. I was placed on the spot for a while as my two children visited the neighbours' to view television," Mwikali said as she adjusted her new 16-inch solar-powered television.

Mwikali is among the many residents of Lukenya in Machakos County, east of Nairobi, who have bought televisions from M-KOPA Solar, a Nairobi-based company that sells solar-powered products in places not connected to the national energy grid.

The digital flat-screen television, put into the product line in February, comes with a solar panel and a portable battery that also controls a lighting unit and contains a socket for charging cell phones.

Margaret Nduge, another solar TV owner, said she had long resigned herself never to being hooked up to the national electricity grid. Before buying the solar kit, Nduge used a generator for power, but it was smoky and noisy, and the cost of fuel was a drain on her behalf finances.

"My neighbors didn't think that I possibly could afford to power the house silently," she said.

The solar television works even though there is little or no sun, she said, allowing her to maintain with her favorite gospel channels and the national news. The battery lasts for four hours when used for lighting and watching TV simultaneously.

Television reaches less than a third of Kenya's adult population every day, with the others lacking power or perhaps a TV set, in accordance with 2015 data from the Kenya Audience Research Foundation cited by M-KOPA.

Leapfrogging the grid

The whole M-KOPA kit, like the television set, costs about $530, and customers make a short payment as high as $79, accompanied by installments of less than $1 a day.

how to watch ipl for free said the $148 minimum fee levied upfront by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to connect a house to the national grid was very costly. It would have taken him years to cover usage of electricity were it not for the solar kit, he said.

Makau also likes the capability of making his daily payment to M-KOPA through his cellular phone.

Jesse Moore, M-KOPA's chief executive, believes poorer nations will lead just how in switching to green energy use.

"In Africa, (we are going) directly from limited energy connections right to renewable," he said.

According to Moore, the company has sold over 6,000 television sets, and plans to scale up production to meet rising demand.

The company hopes to attain 3 million households out from the 5 million yet to get in touch to the grid in Kenya, Moore told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Target areas are mainly rural because many residents you can find poor and need affordable energy products. Allowing payments via mobile money transfer helps attract customers, Moore added.

Better batteries

Individuals are already identifying improvements they wish to see within the next generation of solar products. Mwikali wants enhanced battery life to expand the amount of time she may use her TV, because the current four hours isn't enough for her family's needs.

Makau echoed the suggestion, saying he is sometimes forced to use backups such as for example kerosene lanterns once the solar battery runs out in the evenings.

M-KOPA is wanting to raise the quality of the solar television sets and enhance their features, Moore said. But he warned the price may not drop as the cost has already been low taking into consideration the capabilities of the whole system.

The company is now working out what to do with the solar batteries when their five-year lifespan ends, and has engaged another business to recycle the batteries to greatly help conserve the surroundings, Moore said.

M-KOPA is hoping to expand usage of its solar televisions to Tanzania and Uganda, and to start manufacturing all the components in Kenya. More solar products for the poor are also in the offing, Moore said, declining to elaborate.





Related Articles -
Read More: http://www.pearltrees.com/romerocramer9