The Sunday Mail
Takaendesa Denhere
The world is in an economic mess. Economies are collapsing, receding, failing or whichever way you call it, this is affecting ordinary people who depend on jobs to make an ends meet. Salary cuts, retrenchments, company closures are now the new order of the day.
Zimbabwe has not been spared, our economic turmoil has gone for decades now and many are feeling the pinch of the economic lapse. Colleges are continually releasing graduates who are finding themselves jobless because there are either a few or no job placements at all. Many people are looking forward for the economy to improve so they are seated at home waiting for the time. Innovative ones have already started business enterprises like buying and selling local and imported products. Fruitful projects have been initiated in poultry, metalwork, woodwork and agriculture and people are earning a living with that. Most of these trades are flooded, nearly everyone is doing them. Nowadays if a certain type of business thrives, everyone flocks to get into that business. lt is my sincere hope and wish that this may happen to solar energy as well.
The solar industry is booming all over the world and there are so many opportunities that can be utilized by Zimbabweans in creating employment opportunities, improving our economy as well as preserving our environment.
The Africa Progress Report highlights that two in every three Africans have no access to electricity. Energy is very scarce, less than 2 percent of rural populations in Malawi, Niger, Ethiopia and Chad have access to electrical power. In Senegal, power is out 25 days a year, Tanzania 63 and Burundi 144. The most disturbing news is that over 60 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans will still have no access to electricity by 2020.
This is a great opportunity to exploit.
Selling solar products is the first product oriented opportunity that I am going to mention, as of late there have been so many solar products on the market. In Zimbabwe, the most common solar products are solar panels and lamps. Products can be imported from around the world – USA, China, India and Japan, the list is endless.
We need to manufacture our own solar products, instead of importing.
If other countries can manufacture their own products, we can also do it.
Products like solar panels, batteries, inverters, lamps, lights are on high demand these days. There are also other products which can be sold like solar thermal systems (domestic), solar fans, as well as cooling systems. Aggressive marketing needs to be adopted because a lot of people are not familiar with such products.
Distributing solar products is a very commendable opportunity that needs to be exploited. Many manufacturing companies are emerging and therefore distributors are required to bring products to the market. Imagine, there are a lot of cosmetic, medical and automotive distributors in Zimbabwe, they are doing very well.
The same can also happen in the solar industry. The market is ripe to buy such products because of the current power crisis as well as the growing awareness of environmental management.
Anyone can be a solar developer, if one puts a team of experts that can handle solar installation like solar consultants or solar contractors, a planned solar project can be successful.
All that is needed is to find an area where you want to carry out your project, raise your money for your intended business and then you kick-start. There are a number of companies that are sponsoring different solar projects throughout the world which are ready to channel capital towards such projects. If you have a properly written project proposal you can confidently approach any financier or look for an equity partner. I think one of the most lucrative areas will be rural areas, as well as remote places.
If you are not comfortable with the opportunities I have suggested so far, I have another idea for you. Invent your own solar product. To survive and thrive in this world one has to be innovative and creative – invention is a gateway to sucess. Zimbabwe is waiting for inventors who will bring solutions to the problems troubling our dear nation. I do not think we would face any economic problem if there were people who were standing out boldly and inventing products.
Are you an inventor? There are a lot of solar products that can be developed.
Do you need an idea? Take a look at any existing product that needs power to operate and think about how you could use solar energy to provide the power. One of the challenges causing this is low self-esteem, or just fear.
Fear cripples minds, incapacitates people, rendering them useless to the society, yet their ideas could change the whole nation. Look at India for example, she has made strides in terms of developing her own products. There are solar products invented in India such as Evaki solar pads that can be used to charge gadgets like phones, music players or anything with a USB charger. Some products that are not so popular here include solar backpacks (the bags commonly known as satchels) and solar strawberry trees (used to charge phones). A designer, Andrew Schneider in Brooklyn, came up with an awkward solar product – a solar bikini! It can charge electronic devices as well. That is how invention is done.
Service-oriented opportunities are also available to any citizen of Zimbabwe in the solar industry. Coming first is solar consultancy. A consultant is a person whose occupation is to be consulted for his/her expertise, advice, or help in any area or specialty. You can be an independent solar consultant.
In a country were a great number of people are holding a lot of misconceptions on solar energy you can be helpful with your services to the nation and be rewarded accordingly for your services. There are those that want to install solar systems, they need technical expertise on how best to go about it. You have the knowledge of solar energy, somebody does not, so you give that person the knowledge and you get paid for it.
No one loves dirt, solar panels also do not thrive in dirt. Dirt reduces their efficiency.
Clean solar panels produce more electricity than dirty ones. However, solar panels are normally installed on roof tops, thereby making it difficult to access them for cleanings. Solar street lights are being installed, some are being installed on high-rise buildings. Professional cleaners are required to clean them. In this case, solar panel cleaning services can be a new profitable venture in solar energy.
Financing solar projects is quite expensive, when you are setting up you need to be financially buoyant and a great number of people do not know where to get the capital from.
Therefore, financial consultancy can be another avenue to follow in solar energy. In other countries, they have organisations and institutions that can fund solar or renewable energy projects. Unfortunately we do not have such in this country. Banks seem to have tightened their screws on financing such long-term projects.
Solar appraisals are another good option which can be adopted. Just as there are real estate appraisals, you can start the same in solar energy.
When one goes to buy a home with a solar system he/she would want to know whether the system they are interested in buying is worth the amount they are willing to spend. You will be assessing the value of a solar array on property for sale.
Appraisers will check out the system for anything that can devalue or increase in property’s worth. One can also start to assess the future potential of adding solar installation to a building.
We also have Zimbabweans who are technical, they can use their expertise in repairing solar systems or appliances. Maintenance is required from time to time, especially on older systems that might need to be upgraded with new inverters, wiring replaced, weather related repairs, etc.
A lot of solar companies are penetrating the local market and judging from the current events, we can be a hub of solar knowledge. A lot of the companies will need to hire people.
African economies are growing fast, in the automotive industry we now hear of African cars made in Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana, the solar industry can also grow in Africa.
Takaendesa Denhere is a green environmentalist, renewable energy advocate, independent researcher and writer. He is currently employed as a teacher. For feedback contact him on his email: [email protected].
