admin
Blessings Chidakwa
Herald Reporter
THE roll-out of the Presidential Solar Scheme pilot project has begun, with 80 houses in Glen View, Harare, already connected in the past week.
The Presidential Solar Scheme involves renting and installing solar panels on rooftops of houses for free while solar energy generated from these panels will be fed into the national grid.
In return, Zesa has agreed in principle to suspend load-shedding in areas participating in the scheme, while homeowners will receive a token of appreciation.
Yesterday, our news crew visited Glen View 3 where the installation of solar panels on a pilot project covering 400 households is underway.
The project is being implemented by Zimbabwe Solar Energy Company (ZISEC), a subsidiary of the Prevail Group International (PGI).
A Glen View resident, Ms Yamikani Gideon, showed the news crew the whole solar package including an inverter, which feeds electricity into the national grid.
“We are happy with the Presidential Solar Scheme. There is no longer load shedding in this area,” she said.
“Sometimes we would experience power outages for about 12 hours.”
Another beneficiary, Mrs Manyara Dhlakama, said the project was a game-changer.
“We are at a loss for words over what our President has done for us. His projects since 2018 have been positively impacting lives.
“At first, we benefited from the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme and now it is solar. As a community we are grateful that the national pilot project has been initiated in our area.
“Load shedding is now a thing of the past here. Even robbers and thieves that used to take advantage of 0ness to terrorise people at night are in trouble as there are lights everywhere.”
Mrs Phoebe Ziwange, who has lived in Glen View 3 for over 40 years, said power outages had become a major problem in the area.
“We are really excited over this initiative. Power cuts were a challenge. It was even a danger to have meat in the refrigerator, but all that is now a closed chapter following the intervention by our President,” she said.
For Mr Alexio Ngwendere, the major excitement comes from the role reversal where they are now getting some money from Zesa instead of the previous headache where they had to look for money for electricity tokens.
“We are now generating our own electricity, which we are selling to Zesa. So, we are now guaranteed a constant electricity supply.
“Children can now read using electricity in the evening and we save money that we used to spend on candles when there was no power.
“We thank our President for giving us this programme. Even the pass rate will be better this year given that our children will read without interruption,” he said.
Others believe their backyard businesses, mainly welding, barber shops and chicken rearing, will thrive on the back of constant power supply.
Prevail Group International chairperson, Dr Paul Tungwarara, said the programme will not only reduce power challenges but become a source of income for residents.
“The programme started about seven days ago and we have done 70 to 80 houses already. Now our teams are putting solar panels, once they finish installation, they go inside putting inverters and feeding into the national grid straight away.
“So far, we are targeting, as a pilot, about 400 houses. That should be completed very soon and the electricity will be fed into the national grid. Then His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) will come and officially open these 400 houses,” he said.
Dr Tungwarara said the programme would be rolled out countrywide so that no one and no place is left behind.
“We are saying this rooftop system is going to generate power to their houses, which means there will be no load-shedding because they are generating the power.
“We are renting the rooftops from residents so they will also get money out of it,” he said.
Building on the success of the Presidential Borehole Scheme, which was ironically started in Glen View, this latest initiative seeks to expand its impact and bring further relief and development to communities.
Solar power has been identified as key in reducing load shedding, with Government coming up with favourable terms for Independent Power Producers so they operate with fewer hindrances.
Sustainable Development Goal 7 also calls on countries to ensure access to clean and affordable energy.
Online Reporter