Solar energy only way forward
Written by Millennium on August 12, 2019
AS the fight against Climate Change accelerates, so will the demand for sources of renewable energy too.
Globally, solar energy accounts for just 1 percent of electricity production, but that figure is expected to rise to 16 percent by 2050
Even if future is always hard to predict, but by tracing current trends in energy use, it is easy to surmise that the solar energy industry is here to stay.
Researchers have already suggested that their clear solar panels can be affixed to vehicles, buildings, windows, and even mobile phones.
It is therefore a well-known fact that the use of solar power will expand dramatically in the coming years
Apart from that solar power will play a major role in mitigating climate change around the world.
Most exciting of all, solar power will definitely spread in Zambia in the form of microgrids.
These are decentralized electricity production setups that provide power for a limited area like a village or the neighbourhoods.
Solar microgrids are an ideal pathway to electrification for rural communities where electric utilities often find it too expensive to connect far-flung hamlets to the national grid.
Of course even big industries will have to think the solar way because hydropower has become unreliable due to changing climatic conditions worldwide.
It is for this reason that many African countries including Zambia are taking to solar energy with vigour because of that
We therefore heartily welcome the news from Siavonga about two firms that have come together to raise $150 million for solar project in the district that will add 150MW to the national grid
We hear that the project that will be undertaken in Siavonga’s Chalokwa area by solar developer, Hive Energy and Siavonga Pack Solar Limited is also expected to create employment for hundreds of jobless youths.
The build and operate solar plant was expected to begin by early June next year.
Speaking during the Social Impact Assessment meeting at Chalokwa, Hive energy country manager, Ross Michelson, said, the project would require an investment of up to US$150 million and once that was completed, it would create job opportunities.
He said effects of climate change had caused a lot of problems in the energy sector not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world and that solar energy was now the only solution to the challenge.
And Siavonga District Commissioner Mr. Lovemore Kanyama said the continued low water levels in Zambia’s water reservoirs called for concerted effort in tackling the energy deficit.
Mr. Kanyama said the solar project would supplement the dwindling hydro electricity generation that had affected Zambia and the southern region.
This simply goes to prove that this a renewable source of energy will for many years to come hold the future for the entire globe.
No doubt these solar energy technologies that use the sun’s energy to light and heat homes, produce hot water, and electricity has finally come to look after some other renewable sources of energy.
Given that the sun is readily available, solar power will for many years to come be our attractive source of energy.
It is only sensible that countries like Zambia take advantage of new technological advances that have driven this increased reliance on solar by decreasing costs.
We totally support the path taken by the two Siavonga companies to develop solar energy in that district.
