Researcher proposes photovoltaic power stations for Africa

Paris, 10/03

A Senegalese researcher, Atta Diop, on Monday proposed in Paris the installation of solar energy power stations to help meet the Africa`s electricity needs and lessen the burden of the soaring oil prices.

"I`ve invented all the technology required to start, as early as tomorrow, the installation of those photovoltaic stations in Africa. We only need to show the political will and to raise the financial resources," he said in an interview with PANA.

Diop, who holds the patent to the electric-solar train, stressed the advantages Africa can draw from using photovoltaic power stations, including the possibility to make electricity available to a larger number of Africans.

"The current power cuts in African cities derive from the failure of the fuel-run power stations to meet the increasing energy needs of the population. Some stations need as much as 8 million litres of fuel annually to run fully and meet the electricity needs of a large city like Dakar (Senegal). With solar energy, needs can be met at a cheaper cost," assured the researcher.

He explained that photovoltaic power stations would put out extra electricity that could be used for irrigated agriculture in Africa. "In the African households, a good deal of the electricity is used by the refrigerators, as they are run permanently. Then come electric irons, though they are used only occasionally. With solar energy, households will have power round the year. The extra may be directed to the farming activities. Nowhere will hunger be mentioned in Africa any more," Diop averred.

Emphasising the importance of sand in the functioning of photovoltaic power stations, he said at phase one, his technology will use wind energy to produce solar energy.

"Sand is the first element in the functioning of photovoltaic power stations. It`s available anywhere in Africa. The sand just needs to be heated up to 2,500 degrees using furnaces. We don`t have furnaces, but I suggest that we produce that source of heat using wind energy, which functions very well in Africa. All the requirements are there for that type of power production to be operated," he insisted.

"It is obvious that with cooperation agreements that link the African states and the northern countries, including the oil companies, the latter will not appreciate such an alternative power production system. But Africa should be able to make a choice that is suitable for its interests," Diop noted.

Many large African cities cannot supply electric energy to their residents on a regular basis, due to the inadequate production capacity and the demand of the ever-growing urban population.

The situation has even worsened with the soaring oil prices, forcing the municipal and national authorities to employ power shedding strategies.