Duncans Passion for Solar Energy - Bogoria ( Kenya )

[mary me]

A home in the semi arid land of Central Baringo , Loboi village lives a humble man , a few meters from L.Bogoria National Reserve. A reserve famously known for its geysers, hot springs and flamingoes. With the extreme temperatures a simple man who is practising irrigation farming has stood out to be a unique man in the Loboi village who many admire for his innovation of tapping the renewable energy of solar which many don’t use. After taking a cup of tea that Duncan’s wife served me with a friend, it was time to go straight to my business of the day. In his sitting room, I could see powersockets , bulbs and a TV set with a radio that was tuned to one of the local stations. Duncan was still in his farm and we decided to listen to an evening radio comedy show that left us laughing throughout till when Duncan came. I could see in the neighbourhood an electric pole and when I asked the wife she said that it was electricity but they use solar for their lighting, TV and radio. The beauty of this is, once the solar panel is installed, you have no bills to pay, again the supply is continuous,
Kenya as a country is facing serious power shortages because most of the wetlands that supply water to the dams that generate hydroelectric power are dry. Its something that has been brought by human encroachment and the solutions to these lie in the hands of the same people. Solar and bio fuels are some of the options that the country wants to invest in to curb this problem. There is serious power rationing across the country and there is hue and cry every where. Food security is another issue. More than 3 million Kenyans are facing hunger and starvation .our forest cover lies less than 2 % an indicator that the worst may happen. Many Kenyans depend wholly on agriculture for their daily upkeep, I wish the renewable energy concept was adopted early enough before people started destroying the environment, charcoal burners had a share of the cake but now I wonder if any is remaining for them.
People can borrow a leaf from Duncan and have a solution to their power problems. On interviewing him this is what he had to say.
- His desire is to spread the solar energy concept to his fellow neighbours who envy him .He also conduct free installation services to those who want to install solar gargets.
- He also pointed out that the nearby primary schools could invest in the solar energy for their evening classes. He has managed to help Sandai and chepkotoyon primary schools to install a solar panel, which they use for their evening classes. The challenge that they face most of he time is the capacity of the solar energy, which is never enough.
- Dancun is an ambitious man, the only challenge he has for now is to get more skills on solar energy installation, so that he can have legal status to be installing for organizations or even institutions.
- He also wishes to start an office where he can do his demonstration to physics students who visit him frequently. A smaller garget that is portable will be very helpful to him.
- Despite these challenges Duncan has managed to convince six people in Sandai village to install solar panels. He believes the no’s will go higher with time.
- Finally Duncan wishes to create more awareness, now that most of the people in his area use Radio, he prefers it as one of the best suited media for this, though this may take time due to logistics involved and also the resources that are needed.
- What a lovely trip, in the dry land.
mary
Nb. Photos in the next blog.....

[Timothy Barker]

Thanks Mary. I met Duncan too on my last trip to Kenya. He is, indeed, a very inspirational figure. His family is very supportive of his efforts and the community of which he is very much a part are hopefully beginning to appreciate his many talents! Duncan and I got on like a house on fire since we both share a passion for renewable energy. Unfortunately Duncan is not yet on the Internet but DIYNGO is working on this.

Radio is indeed a useful medium for access to information of all kinds. This is something we should be looking into but first we have to ensure that our own network is strong enough to maintain lines of communication. Hence attempting to get Duncan on to the Internet.

Resources for our efforts now are crucial. We are desparately seeking some kind of formal recognition from the UN to help bolster our appeal. Simply put, we cannot continue our important and highly relevant work without further resources now. We will soon be seeking further advice on this important topic and have already made some investigations.