1. SOLAR IN WEST AFRICA –
PROJECTS AND GOALS OF ENERGY
FOR OPPORTUNITY
Robert Munro,
(former) CIO, Energy for Opportunity,
CEO, Idibon
E-Discuss, San Francisco
November 2013

2. Sierra Leone
6.5 Million people
 Electricity coverage:

urban ~10%
 rural ~1%

GDP per capita: US$679 (1.5% US)
 Adult Literacy: 38.1%
 Life Expectancy: 47.3 years
 3 Physicians per 100,000 people
 53% of population has access to
safe drinking water


3. STEADY IMPROVEMENT & STABILITY

v
Top 5 countries in Africa by Global Peace Index

4. SIERRA LEONE

Development is not for
lack of resources

5. ENERGY FOR OPPORTUNITY

Background (2007):
Environmental Foundation for
Africa, Sierra Leone
 United Nations High
Commission for Refugees


6. WHO WE ARE
Simon Willans – Exec
Director
 Chernor Jalloh –
Engineering Manager
 Mohamed Turay –
Engineering Manager
 Idrissa Tarawally –
Engineering Manager
 ~100 people employed by
EFO or at charging stations
that we created


7. STATUS OF COMPANY

Self-sustaining as of 2013:
We can cover cost of operations with for-profit
installations
 Admin is <10% of budget
 >95% of people employed were born in Sierra Leone


170 KW has been produced by EFO
10 KW in the country before EFO
 Direct/Indirect population 100,610 / 928,130


Full electrical systems and education

Eg: 7W LED vs 60W incandescent

8. IN THE LAST YEAR:
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – 3 Districts
 Kamakwie District Hospitals

Madina CHC
 15 CHCs/CHPs --- Bonthe, Kenema and Tonkolili


Community Charging Stations




GIZ --- Koindugu, Kambia, Kono and Kailahun
Christian Aid --- Bonthe
WHH --- Bo and Kenema
BBC Media Action


Eastern Radio
Freetown Office

9. IN THIS TALK
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – 3 Districts
 Kamakwie District Hospitals

Madina CHC
 15 CHCs/CHPs --- Bonthe, Kenema and Tonkolili


Community Charging Stations




GIZ --- Koindugu, Kambia, Kono and Kailahun
Christian Aid --- Bonthe
WHH --- Bo and Kenema
BBC Media Action


Eastern Radio
Freetown Office

10. COMMUNITY CHARGING STATIONS (CCS)

Thirty five CCSs in operation


Creates income for the communities


We had two in 2010
Eg: Light and power rentals, charging cellphones
Converting to a self-sustaining business unit within
the company

Partnerships with entrepreneurs within the country who
can deploy and manage multiple systems to villages
from district HQs

11. KAMABAI COMMUNITY CHARGING STATION

One of our first: allows
longitudinal (ish) study.

Lighting is expensive
10-15% of rural household
incomes
 500x more spent on
lighting than people from
industrialized countries


90% cellphone ownership
Kamabai in 2010 (Mohamed)

13. •
•
•
•
Low-lumen light
Fire and burn hazard
Indoor pollution
Loss of community revenue
Profits
Profits
Payments
Funds to
re-supply
Kerosene
Retailer /
Torch
Batteries
Community Members
Payments
Target Community
Profits
Generator
Fuel
Mobile
recharging
business
Profits
External
Usual Energy Use in a Sierra Leone Village
(10-15% of expenses)

14. •
•
•
•
High Lumen Light
Improved education outcomes
Reduced hazards
Creation of community revenue
Community Members
Target Community
Community
Fund
Payments
Wages
Community
Charging
Station
Maintenance
and repair
(most still
within the
country)
External
Community Charging Station (CCS) approach
for Rural Lighting and Mobile Phone charging

15. PROFITS

16. KAMABAI PROFITS
Monthly Revenue at the Kamabai CCS
250
Greater
acceptance of
solar as an
electricity
source that
won’t fry a
phone.
150
100
Revenue
Trendline
Rainy Season
Dry Season
50
10
Jul
10
Se
p1
0
No
v1
0
J an
11
Ma
r1
Ma 1
y1
1
Jul
11
Se
p1
1
No
v1
1
J an
12
Ma
r 12
Ma
y1
2
Jul
12
Se
p1
2
No
v1
2
J an
13
Ma
r 13
Ma
y1
3
Ma
y
r 10
0
Ma
Revenue (US$)
200
Time

17. KAMABAI
CCS Funds
Secondary School
Town Water Supply
Health Clinic

18. KAMABAI SECONDARY SCHOOL
Average passes and credits (n=40)

19. 
v
“We don’t have money to buy
kerosene. The income that we
usually put into light I spend on
food and textbooks”
Daniel K Amen (Senior student
Kamakwie)
“Immensly improved the status of the
school. We have bad results in the
school; With the solar system,
children will come in to study,
teachers, using whatever equipment
we have, especially computers, will
help the children to have more
materials to study”
(Jnr School Principal Kamabai)

20. NEXT STEPS:
PRIVATIZATION WITHIN SIERRA LEONE

21. SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION

v

23. SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION

Community based and managed
Revenue generated for maintenance and upgrade
 Builds off CCS model


Localized treatment


Reduce transportation and other transaction costs
Focused treatment

Contrast to large scale, general treatment facilities

24. SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION
SolaWata can be purchased from the CCS in one
or five gallon containers (containers by deposit)
 Le 3,000 for the five gallon container and Le 1,000
for the one gallon container ($0.70 / $0.23)
 Le 1,000 = cost to pay someone to fetch a
container of water from well/stream
 Positive image, but still with limited uptake


25. CONTAINER SYSTEM
Addresses donor concerns over environmental impacts
of plastic packets
 Minimises risk of after sales contamination of water
 Challenge is to create package options that meet the
demand from customers at an affordable price point


26. BRAND/MARKETING

Logo development


Radio programming


Discussion and jingle
Direct marketing


Highlights the sun and water
aspects and the relationship
between them
‘Noisy’ campaigns, t-shirts, and
flyers
Community visibility

Kiosk and container stickers

27. UPTAKE

More time by
installers on site.

Lowered cost

Allowed
community
containers

28. REASONS WHERE THERE IS A LACK OF
UPTAKE BY COMMUNITIES

v

Water bags are *much* more
expensive, but have familiarity

29. CONCLUSIONS / CURRENT & FUTURE WORK

Community charging station expansion


US Embassy Housing



12KW hybrid system including NPA (grid) connection
UNOPS Hospitals
River 2 Micro Hydro:


Establishment of PCSs to complete the distribution chain
Our first ‘micro-grid’, combining solar and hydro
Further reading:

Simon Willans, Amé Christiansen and Paul Munro (2011).
"Emerging Forms of Entrepreneurship: For-Profit and Non-Profit
Partnerships for the Dissemination of Solar Power into Rural
Sub-Saharan Africa". The 56th Annual ICSB World Conference:
Sweden.