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Solar Power Finds Unexpected New Market in Kenya

By IGI Global on Dec 28, 2010
Although the United Nations estimates that about 85% of people in Kenya live without electricity, and that they are part of the 1.5 million people worldwide who fall into that group, some Kenyan families have purchased and installed their own solar power systems. Sara Ruto, one such Kenyan, recently purchased this kind of system for about $80 after spending a year traveling to and from the nearest town simply to charge her new cell phone. The single solar panel has provided her household with enough energy to charge her phone, run four overhead lights, and occasionally charge the phones of her neighbors as well. The solar panel has saved her $15 monthly in kerosene and battery costs and $20 monthly in travel costs to charge her phone in another town. Her younger children are safer without the kerosene lamp that used to be present in their house, and her older children have done better in school now that they have more light to study for longer periods of time.

Small-scale renewable energy has become an attractive option to people like Sara Ruto as energy sources like small solar power systems have become cheaper, more reliable, and more efficient. For people located in rural areas that are far from the minor electricity grids located in developing countries like Kenya, solar power systems are the perfect solution to transform the lives of many people, even those who are very poor. Other renewable energy systems such as subterranean biogas chambers and small hydroelectric dams have increased in popularity in various parts of Africa including Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

The biggest hindrance to further distribution of these systems is that an effective business model has not yet been developed. Start-up capital, supply, and connections are elements that have left many potential buyers and distributors unable to significantly and quickly increase the growth of off-grid individual renewable energy systems in developing countries. So although this green option works well for Sara Ruto, many families are not yet able to take advantage of these technologies. (www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/science/earth/25fossil.html?_r=2&ref=science)

Many IGI Global titles cover new development in similar areas, including technology in developing countries and renewable energy sources. One recent publication is ICTs and Sustainable Solutions for the Digital Divide: Theory and Perspectives, edited by Jacques Steyn and Graeme Johanson. The coming of age of the personal computer and World Wide Web has made it possible to reach a much wider portion of populations. Technological determinists as well as social activists saw the potential of deploying networked computers to the general citizenry, and internet cafés and telecentres were established. Over the past twenty years only a handful of very poor countries did not get onto this bandwagon. This reference focuses on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), which includes any technology used for communication and information. This publication researches the social side of computing, the users, and the design of systems that meet the needs of "ordinary" users.ICTs and Sustainable Solutions for the Digital Divide: Theory and Perspectives

For more information on this title, please visit:

www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/TitleDetails.aspx?TitleId=41773.
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Public Policy & AdministrationEnvironmental, Agricultural, and Physical SciencesDigital Divide & Developing CountriesGlobal Information TechnologyBooks & E-Books

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