The Solar Energy Foundation has opened up new horizons for 10,000 villagers in Rema, Ethiopia and nearby, bringing electricity to their homes for the first time thanks to 2,000 new low-cost solar home systems, and offering young people a chance to train as solar technicians.

Graduates of the International Solar School have opened four Solar Centres in other areas of Ethiopia with a further 8,500 solar home systems due to be installed by the end of the year.

Samson Tsegaye, SEF’s Ethiopian country representative, accepted a prestigious Ashden Award for the SEF’s work in setting up Ethiopia’s largest solar energy program, from HRH the Prince of Wales, at a ceremony in London, England, on June 11, 2009. The SEF scheme has installed over 2,000 small solar systems in two villages that are off the electricity grid, bringing electricity to these communities for the first time. The villagers pay a low monthly fee (about $1), which covers the maintenance and repairs. The village committee manages payments and employs nine local people as fee collectors.

Established in 2006 by Dr Harald Schützeichel, SEF has developed high quality solar-home-systems and solar lanterns for the 10,000-plus villagers living in Rema and Rema ena Dire, villages in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, five hours’ drive from Addis Ababa. The residents, who previously depended on smoky kerosene lamps and candles for their lighting, turned down the offer of free diesel generators in favour of solar power.

Working closely with local government bodies and also the Disaster Preparedness Agency Ethiopia, SEF provides both technology and a maintenance and financial structure that means each household can have its own solar-home-system. To save villagers walking for two hours to collect water as before, the Foundation has installed a solar-powered water pump in Rema to provide fresh drinking water.

“The solar programme has helped develop the community in many ways,” says Samson Tsegaye. “The local women’s association has set up a popular night school for uneducated adults to improve literacy. School children can now study in the evenings and one teacher claims her pupils’ grades have improved by 75% as a result. Fewer people are suffering from eye and respiratory problems associated with kerosene smoke.”

The Foundation has set up an International Solar School in Rema for local young people, with rigorous six-month training programmes on technical and business skills. Thirty graduates have completed the course and some are now working in four new solar centres which have been set up in other areas of Ethiopia.

"We now have a special financing system in place that will allow us to establish a network of Solar Centres all over Ethiopia over the coming years," says Dr. Schützeichel. ”Our aim is to initiate self-supporting solar businesses across Ethiopia – and to make ourselves superfluous as an NGO."

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy were founded in 2001 to encourage the greater use of local sustainable energy to address climate change and alleviate poverty. They show-case and celebrate best practice, encourage the expansion and replication of winners’ work, raise awareness of the potential of local sustainable energy, and advocate on the winners’ behalf.

This story was prepared from an Ashden Awards news release; the pictures also come from the Ashden Awards site. For the Ashden Awards case study on SEF, see here. Pictures, from top to bottom - g raduate solar technicians from International Solar School, Ethiopia; traditional home with solar PV, Rema, Ethiopia; Samson Tsegaye, Solar Energy Foundation, Ethiopia.