ICL project supplies solar power system to Rwandans

Since forming the project, dubbed e.quinox, in 2008, students at Imperial College London (ICL) have established a charging station in a village of 50 households in the Minazi Sector of Northern Rwanda.

The local population can charge their battery box at the ‘energy kiosk’ for a small fee. The box contains a gel-based lead-acid battery, protection circuitry and two 12V outputs with an LED lamp. The latest version also contains an in-built 65W inverter for providing 230V of AC power for small electrical appliances such as radios and mobile phone chargers.

‘We also found that people are quite creative,’ said Christopher Hopper, the chairman of the e.quinox project. ‘A man found he could put a razor on the battery box − he wanted to open his own barber shop and now we also cater for that.’

The central solar-energy station also makes it possible for powering larger community appliances such as water purifiers.

According to the Rwandan State Minister for Energy, only six per cent of the 9.7 million inhabitants of the country are connected to the grid, but the government aims to increase that figure to 16 per cent by 2012.