Blues from Tema, 24 hrs without power in the last 36
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot

A surgeon complains about power shortages in Ghana, " 24 hrs without power in the last 36.... and the water problem is now a given and no longer even acknowledged."

Sadly, the problem is getting worse.

You also hear this from him, " I just love the sound of a generator; it is the sound track to my life for now ... I shall watch the Sopranos and wonder where I went wrong" and you are listening to the sipping resignation and the pathos in his statement.

Then the missive gets more serious, " Yesterday, I explained to a gynecologist the spate of genital infections in young girls; it is from dirty water stored in tanks or from questionable sources."

And you can't help but wonder why we are inflicting so much pain on ourselves. Are we so destitute of ideas that we are unable to solve this energy problem? No power generation, no adequate supply of clean water. Does anyone care? Ebola just overwhelmed some of our neighbors.

The doctor's appeal is an honest, poignant statement about our affairs lately. This, coming from a neurosurgeon - at the highest level of the professional class - causes you to wonder how the pain is to common folks.

The power shortage is a serious problem; a fact that no political goodwill or patriotic ease must hide. We need solutions. The current ones on offer are inadequate . Fortunately, there is a "not so novelty" idea called solar power.

Every roof on a suitable house can be a power generation plant.

Solar is not a new technology. Nor is it complex. It is renewable and cost saving. The cost for installation may be outside the financial reach of the average homeowner, but the concern here should be national .

First a disclaimer; I am not an electrical engineer or a financier. I am just a reader and a writer. I am here only to amplify an idea I think is good for the country.

Solar power is ideal for Ghana. We have more hours of sunshine than nations in Europe or North America. What we lack is a national policy and a complementary financing arrangement to make a national solar system work.

And the policy to make this happen can only come from government; the same government that is now stumbling all over the place to find new power generation means.

It is reported that the largest solar plant in Africa will be completed in Ghana by October 2015. It is said to be in construction in the Western Region. It is a stand alone solar farm.

The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MOEP) reports that "General Electric (GE) is ready to roll out its Ghana 1,000 power project. The $1billion project will lead to the establishment of a 1,200-megawatt thermal power project in the Western Region."

All that is well and good. But at this stage of our development, do we still need more outsiders to invest in standing power generating plants?

 
A government that has access to huge investors who come for profit must also have the capacity to put something more creative and organic on the board for our sole benefit. Solar for homes is the answer.

Solar for homes' policy is a creative, self-sustaining and organic idea. Less complicated than nuclear or thermal power, it can start a homegrown solar industry in Ghana; from fabrication to installation. The sand on our beaches for cell fabrication is free. So is the sunlight. And the technology is not beyond the knowledge of our current crop of engineers and the schools that produce them.

So the daily "dum-sor" episode, as bad as it is now, presents a significant opportunity for putting solar power in homes. The foot print required for installation is the square footage of the average size of a roof on a house. As demand for permits to build new houses in our cities and towns grow, so should the opportunity for fulfilling the policy.

The more solar equipped homes, the less demand on our meager power generation ability.

But money is the wherewithal to make solar for homes happen. This is the area where government can be useful and creative.

So let's start with a policy that allows a Bond for "Solar Power Trust," a trust renewable at every four years of a presidential term.

At each term, $300 million is floated in bonds for the sole purpose of sponsorship of solar homes. The individual home owner can access the trust for a loan and back this loan with the equity in his house. The loan amount should not be more than $15,000 per home and payments can be stretched up to 15 years.

The risks for these loans are minimal since they are collaterally backed. The only apprehension is waste and corruption. We minimize these by requiring government not to set up a new bureau, headed by a political appointee with a SUV as perk.

We should also insist that all aspects of administration of the loan be managed by private banks, for a service fee to be paid directly by the consumer.

The program will mean reducing our penchant for borrowing huge sums for such projects. Thus, fewer foreign entities will get the opportunity to hollow out gains from our economy because of our need for power generation.

There are readers who may disagree with the above plan on the grounds that:

The concept and its processes are more complex than assumed here. The solar technology is in its infancy and can be costly. And, that only the rich will benefit. Worse, its individualistic off-the- grid approach will mean potential loss of some surplus power that otherwise can be seamlessly integrated into our national grid system for distribution to all.

However, since when does voluntarily using less or zero power from the national grid system harm the poor or anybody?

Rather, the nation will benefit in numerous and diverse ways.

The government's own money for the same purpose will go unused. The need for outsiders to build expensive thermal generating plants, thereby creating standing opportunities for huge profits to flow out of the national economy, can be gradually reduced.

The Kpone Power Plant, generating some 350 MW of power, is said by MOEP to cost $900 million at completion, yearly servicing cost not added.

A third of the Kpone amount can set up a "Solar Trust Fund." As envisaged here, this can equip up to 20,000 qualified homes per the term of the bond, with additional bond coming in every four years to add more solar equipped houses.

As already implied, the availability of the solar fund can create a demand for fabrication and installation of panels and other items. The technology is small scale and the science is instantly accessible to our engineering professional, unlike a standing nuclear or thermal power generation plant.

Qualified engineers can quickly retrofit their ventures to meet demands. As more households are added, demand for hired help will grow and new jobs will be created.

A modest 12 KW output from each of the 20,000 solar equipped houses that this fund can support, has the potential capacity in four years to match or exceed the megawatts output from the Kpone Power Plant - at drastic cost savings.

Yet, the loan payment, including interest and service fee, can run up to $150.00 a month. It costs more to operate a standby generator of the same 12 KW capacity at homes in Ghana now. And even that, the generator can't run continuously for a week!

The solar plant on a roof can run for years. The sunlight is free and the surplus generated can be used to charge bank of batteries for use at night.

In time, government will be wise to buy back the surplus power from homes to harness to the national grid system for use elsewhere.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, February 06, 2015.
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