Solar Energy: New power source in Jigawa, Nigeria

Rural areas in Northern Nigeria lack the modern energy sources needed for improvements in health, education, transportation and commercial development. Outside of major cities and towns, there has been very little electrification in this region and what supply there is, is often unreliable. In contrast, Nigeria has an abundance of petroleum-based energy resources and in fact is the sixth largest supplier of oil to the United States. Unfortunately, very little revenue from the sale of this resource filters down to help the rural population. With the intention of addressing the unavailability of energy in villages, Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) Executive Director, Robert Freling and Jigawa State governor, Ibrahim Siminu Turaki, began a dialogue in 2001 concerning the possibility of using solar–electricity (photovoltaic or PV) to power essential services in the far-flung villages of Jigawa State.

In very few places has PV been used to address virtually all of the things that a community needs energy for. But that’s what we decided to do and we were going to do it in three villages where over 7,500 people would benefit from the results.
Having a reliable water supply is the first priority of any village and this is especially true in the semi-desert of Jigawa State where there are few rivers or other sources of water on the surface of the land. Typical methods of getting water range from open wells with rope and bucket, to hand pumps, to government supplied diesel-powered pumps that work only until they break down or until villagers run out of money to buy the expensive diesel fuel. The powerful solar-powered pumps supplied with this project are designed to run maintenance-free for eight to ten years or more.

The village health clinics now benefit from solar energy. Lights enable health officers to see patients at night for the first time, vaccine refrigerators allow more people to be vaccinated at greater frequency and fans increase the comfort level of staff and patients alike. Village primary schools now have, at least, two illuminated classrooms and teachers report that they are being heavily used in the evenings for adult education and as places for children to come and do their lessons. Each school has also been provided with a computer and computer instruction for the teachers. These are the first computers in the project villages and there are plans to eventually hook them to the internet via the state’s broadband system – a process that can literally open the village to the rest of the world for healthcare, education and commerce.

Tribune