Innovation & Sustainability

Power shortages in spite of great potential for solar power

The electrical power grids in many African countries are notoriously unreliable. Kenya’s rapid economic growth, and a lack of investment in energy, have led to frequent power shortages.

The new solar power system in the SOS Children’s Village Mombasa is grid-connected, which means that it feeds electrical power into the public power grid during the day and taps into the grid when the need for electricity is high, i.e. in the evening. That makes it one of the first photovoltaic systems of its kind in Africa, the first of its kind in Kenya - and the very first for SOS Children. As Ruth Okowa from SOS Children, Kenya points out, the energy from the new system “is economical in the long run, reliable and environmentally responsible on top of that”.

Mombasa CV solar panels

Frequent power cuts are inconvenient, even dangerous

It is not unheard of for SOS mothers to be forced to get up when it is still dark outside to make sure the children’s breakfast is ready by the time they have to go to school. But aside from being simply inconvenient, the frequent power cuts can have much more serious, sometimes dangerous, consequences. In addition to its many other programmes that support families and communities throughout Africa, SOS Children runs numerous SOS Medical Centres that are often equipped with life-support machines.

Full “make-over” turns SOS Children’s Village Mombasa green

Towards the end of 2009, preparations were being made to renovate the SOS Children’s Village in Mombasa, Kenya. The buildings were in dire need of repair. SOS Children decided to use the opportunity to turn the village into a “green” village.

A generous contribution from our partner Danone Holland and our countless supporters made possible a full overhaul of the village’s power supply, including the construction of an innovative solar power plant, in operation since March 2011.

An African-German cooperation guarantees the system will be well maintained

African-German partnership guarantees maintenance and repairs.  When installing this technologically innovative system, it was important to have competent partners nearby who can maintain and, if necessary, repair the plant. Through their partnership with African Solar Designs Ltd., German company Asantys Systems GmbH could guarantee that their African partners would be available for repairs at short notice. The project was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as well as the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Both the staff and the children of the SOS Children’s Village, Mombasa learned about solar power straight from the experts, who gave them both theoretical and hands-on demonstrations of the new power plant powering their village and their school. Hopefully, this first-hand experience with renewable energy will inspire the children and future generations that renewable energy is the way of the future for Africa and the planet as a whole.