Breaking free from costly fossil fuel: Acholi business community embrace solar use

Despite Uganda being a major supplier of hydropower in the east African region, communities within its territory still grapple with electricity-related challenges. These range from persistent power outages to people being unable to afford power due to high tariffs, while some communities, especially those that are far-flung, are still not connected to the grid.

Statistics show that grid connectivity is limited, with only 18.9 percent of Ugandans having access to power through the national grid, mostly in urban areas. As a result, many communities, especially in rural areas, where power connectivity remains an issue, are forced to rely on fossil fuel-powered generators to do their work.

But the problem with using fossil fuel— which includes oil (diesel and petrol) and natural gas—as an energy source on a daily basis is that it’s quite costly for many Ugandans. Add to that, studies how show that burning fossil fuels is a major driver of climate change.

But in recent years, as many communities become environmentally conscious, they are also embracing innovations that rely on cleaner forms of energy. One of the most common alternative sources of energy is solar.

Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy they come from the limitless power source—the sun. It is infinite and enough to fill the global energy needs. And being a renewable energy resource, it can be harnessed virtually everywhere—at any point of the earth’s surface where sunlight hits.

This news radio feature on Radio Pacis explores the extent to which the business community and institutions of learning are embracing solar use as an off-grid source of power in Acholi, one of the regions that continues to grapple with electricity-related challenges.

Mr. Paul Oling, a medical practitioner, who runs a drug shop at Kinteny Trading Center in Labora Sub County Omoro district, has been running his clinic entirely using solar energy for almost a decade.

He had to purchase a full set of solar equipment to ease his work at the medical clinic since he could not afford getting connected to the grid and also work in the dark at night.

“…the first benefit I have got here is [that solar] it is cost-effective, reason being that [despite] being costly, you will reap more with time compared to generator that requires you to buy fuel every day which [produces] there is smoke”

“To the drug shop, solar provides for me light,” he says. it also “helps in saving the environment because it doesn’t bring smoke, you only just wait for light from sun shine, and it just taps it and converts it to the electricity to be used”

Besides lighting the place at night, Mr. Oling is also able to charge his phone, which enables him to communicate with his patients anytime in case there is medical emergency in his community.

“Another benefit of solar [energy] to the community it helps to charge phones and I receive some small money from charging people`s phones and they pay me 500 shillings at the end,” adding that this also supplement his income.

Mr. Oling now dreams of expanding his business as well as adding more solar equipment to run it.

“My future plan is to upgrade my drug shop to a clinic where I can even admit patients because the sources of light is now available and it is free of charge, [and] it just requires enough sunshine”

Likewise, Mrs. Acora Prossy, who is also a resident of Labora, has for the past two years been using solar run her retail shop.

“Solar energy is very important in a way that it helps run music systems that can entertain custoemers,” she says. it is alos “ a source of light  especially when electricity fluctuates. I also don’t have to waste money on other sources like fuel”.

Institutions of learning are also following suit.

PP Newton High School, a privately owned secondary school in Gulu district that strictly relies on solar energy, has never regretted using solar energy.

According to Lakot Monica Anywar, the head headmistress of PP Newton High School, solar has improved learning operation since the institution is able to power the computer laboratory, print learning materials, and also light classrooms for students to read at night.

“PP Newton is less than 6 years old by that we have a lot of needs around so as we take over, we wanted to have an affordable source of energy that could help us move on as a school,”

“ that is the reason why as administrators and stakeholders of the school we found that solar will be a little cheaper for us because once it’s installed there are miner services that you will have to take other than paying electricity bills on a monthly basis”

“and sometimes you may not have money in the school and yet the school has a lot of things to do with power. But solar is more convenient because once installed you’re sure that you’re going to handle your services,” she stated.

Solar is lighting up the city streets for security too.

Mr. Oola Patrick Lumumba, the division mayor of Bardege-Layibi division in Gulu city, said that the decision by the authorities to use solar energy to light some of the streets in his division was one of the best choices ever made.

“We would have been able to pay the electricity bills if we were to be using electricity to power some the newly constructed roads in our division,” he noted.

However, Moses Rackara, one of the technicians at Radio Pacis, advises that solar users to follow certain precautionary measures before solar equipment.

“What I have seen with most people, they actually think they want to spend less money but in actual sense they spend more money,” he says , adding that  “you find people having very big solar panels, very bad wire, poor quality they use to connect from solar to their systems, they also don’t have solar charge controller or solar regulator, they have direct connection to the battery and they get poor quality invertors and they don’t size their systems appropriately”

He adds: “You might find someone having television, woofer, music systems which are a bit big, machines for shaving hair, when they have all those machines, they will have a very small battery and the solar they have is not sufficient enough to charge that battery, so they use the battery all during day and in the evening already the battery is weak because they don’t size their systems properly and they buy poor products,“ he noted.

“We have one common thing which one word we use which is system sizing, you know what you have in your house or wherever you want your solar to do, so you know that my load or system needs to be powering this, may be 5 bulbs,1 Tv screen, may be CPU for a computer, maybe there is a laptop, phone charging, you, must know your systems well, he stressed.

This story as first aired on Radio Pacis with support from the Northern Uganda media Club (NUMEC) in partnership with the 11 Hour Project.