By Richard Kelman | Founder -4SROGBOE
We've distributed 200 + 160 +160....TOTAL 520 Solar Lanterns in the Srogboe area in the last 14 months ..and that undoubtedly makes Srogboe (and surrounding communities..Whuti and Atorkor) Ghana's Solar Centre..with a higher percentage of households with Solar Lanterns than any other set of communities in Ghana!!
And in the way that we do this, our Solar Light Distribution Scheme provides a good Weekly Cash Income for 5-6 Church Ladies, led by the indefatigable, Mary A, in the process..and that means 14 months of very welcome income so far for these ladies!
To some extent then Srogboe..and our NGO.. now have a solid reputation within Ghana's Keta District as the 'Solar Lantern people' and wherever we go within the District, people approach us to get one of our Solar Lanterns!. And we switch them over to Edward S, our very dependable Solar Distribution lead!
Solar is such a 'No-Brainer' on the Equator but at this level, good, robust and useful Solar Lights are hard to find ..and the ones that we bring in, purchased in quantity in Accra, have been extensively tested to be the best and most robust for use in Africa.They provide excellent light; long-lasting LED bulbs; they are a very robust design; many hours of light at different levels for indoor or outdoor use; and they have the priceless asset of allowing the 'user' to charge a great variety and number of cell-phones while charging or 'discharging' the lantern, and the farther off the beaten path one is in rural Africa, the more valuable this 'feature' is!
Our buying 'cost' is approx $25 per lantern and through our susu-like distribution scheme, we look to recover c. 65% of our outlay..thus our six-monthly replacement cost is c 35% x number of new lights to be purchased x cost per light (currently $25).
The big winner however, as far as introduction of Solar in our area, is to come up with an effective low-cost solar irrigation scheme for small farmers (and we don't have any other kind in this area) which would also persuade them to work together co-operatively and achieve economies of scale that would free up capital for better seeds, etc.
The difficulty is in coming up with a low-cost solution..and although we have a 'design' and some technological support, we have to go back to the drawing-board here in the US to prove our design. Primarily because of lack of the right range of components in Ghana, we have to asssemble and experiment with these in the US before we try in Ghana. Given, however, that farming is still carried out in the same way that it undoubtedly has been for the last 100 years, there is time to experiment and get it right before we attempt to roll out a trial in Ghana.
The virtue of patience..but it gives us time to get to know the local farmers and for them to see us in the local community all the time, understand what we're doing, and be more willing to work with us when the time comes.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of our project.Our Members' support is a major part of what drives us.
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