Great Energy Challenge Grantee: Solar Electric Light Fund
In partnership with the local Association pour le Developpement Economique Social et Culturel de Kalalé (ADESCA), Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) designed its Whole Village electrification program. Because an agricultural component was determined to be the critical initial step, the project's pilot phase involved installing solar drip-irrigation systems—the Solar Market Garden (SMG)—for each of three women's cooperatives in two pilot villages, Bessassi and Dunkassa. The SMG merges solar-powered water pumping with a drip-irrigation model pioneered at the Niger office of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and is designed to yield produce for sale as well as consumption.
This success also provided the basis for extending electricity throughout the pilot villages, which is the objective of this project. This work involves installing systems to power each village's water supply, school, health center, micro-enterprise and Internet centers, street and market lighting, and household solar LED lighting.
Three wells for drinking water have been successfully drilled (only one may require minor purification treatment). Finishing the water delivery system (piping, tower locations, and spigot locations) is the next priority, followed this winter by solar electrifying the villages' clinics and schools. The micro-enterprise centers and the balance of the work is planned for 2012.
The long-term goal is to provide a development model for much of West Africa, where conditions are similar to those in northern Benin. Additionally, the model can be adapted for use throughout the developing world.