Most people in rural Africa do not have access to electricity and cook on inefficient and smoky wood fires. The solar lights and improved stoves project solves multiple problems at once by doing clean energy transformation for household in rural Africa.  It does this by providing both solar home lighting systems (SHS = solar home system) and improved cook stoves (ICS) to participating households.  The improved stoves are implemented largely by local efforts, and the solar lights are largely paid for with donations and provide a strong incentive for households to build stoves.   

In this project, VPI’s partners first teach and encourage people to install an ICS with a chimney.  The stove chimney removes the smoke from the kitchen and the improved stove design reduces wood consumption by about 50%.  Once a village builds stoves VPI, the Eritrean Development Foundation, the Eritrean Department of Energy and the local government distribute solar home lighting systems (SHS) to the villagers.  When there are fewer SHS than households, the lighting systems are distributed via lottery.

The traditional Eritrean stove consists of a clay firebox with a clay cooking plate on top.  Traditionally such stoves sit on the ground and vent smoke directly into the kitchen.  The improved version of the cook stove is lifted off the ground, has a fire grate on which the wood sits, and has air for combustion enter the stove from a lower air inlet and exiting through a chimney.

In Eritrea, the biggest benefit of the stove is removing smoke from the house.  Indoor air pollution from stoves, kerosene lamps and other sources leads to higher rates of respiratory disease which is one of largest, if not the largest cause of child mortality in Eritrea and other African countries.

Cooking injera on an improved cook stove in Adena village (left).  A well-used improved stove in the village of MeQ’I (right)

 

The combined solar lighting and improved stoves project is therefore a very cost effective way of providing multiple benefits: climate benefits from the decreased wood use and deforestation from the improved stoves, poverty reduction from the increased time and education that the lights bring, and improved health from the decreased indoor air pollution from the efficient stove with chimney.   

 

Project History

The Eritrean Development Foundation and Village Projects International (VPI) partnered with the Energy Research and Training Center (ERTC) of the Eritrean Department of Energy in August of 2006 to create and pilot test the combined solar lights and stoves project model in 20 remote villages in sub-zoba Dekemhare and sub-zoba Logo Anseba.

In the initial pilot test, one solar lighting system was installed in each village, and the villagers are oriented on the construction of the improved stoves.   The project then visited the villages six months later and evaluated progress.  At that time, one village, Girat Gobru had built the most stoves (about 100) and it was slated for the first installation of 20 additional solar lighting systems, which were distributed via lottery installed in 2007.  After Girat Gobru received its lights, all of the surrounding villages quickly built their improved stoves.  Then in 2008 another shipment of 100 lighting systems were sent that the ERTC installed in the villages of MeQ’I and Adena.

Solar lighting system in the village of Girat Gobru (left). Solar light having from the ceiling of a house in MeQ’I (right)

In 2010, the Eritrean Development Foundation and VPI are conducting more fundraising to expand solar lighting systems in the Logo Anseba subzone.

 

Detailed Project Activities

For the Eritrea solar lights and stoves project, there have been several implementation phases. The initial organization phase resulted in the installation of a solar lighting system in each of 20 villages.  After this phase, approximately 200 improved stoves were installed in the 20 target villages.  The project rewarded the most active village with 20 more solar lighting systems (distributed by lottery) and more than 700 more improved stoves were built and installed by various communities.  The stove installations were verified in January 2008, while another shipment of 97 solar lighting systems was being sent to Eritrea.  Those 97 solar lighting systems were installed in approximately March of 2008 in the participating villages of MeQ’I and Adena.

These project activities are summarized in the table below:

Project Activity Summary: Solar Lights and Improved Stoves Project in Eritrea

Date	Village/Notes	VPI Investment	Solar Lighting Systems	Improved Stoves
8/2006	All Villages	$5,000	20
9/2006	All Villages	Local Investment		200
3/2007	Girat Gobru	$5,000	20
12/2007	All Villages	Local Investment		718
3/2008	meQ’I & adena	$18,000	97
6/2008	Total in use	$28,000	137	918

In the January 2008 project visit, VPI volunteers visited Eritrea and selected participating villages to verify the progress of the project activities and found the following distribution of project progress:

Country	Region	Village	Lights (installed)	Stoves (installed)
Eritrea	debub	`adi mHSun	1	18
Eritrea	debub	`adi `agmay	1	20
Eritrea	debub	kulu`awta	1	53
Eritrea	debub	ma`aya	1	60
Eritrea	debub	gedele	1	150
Eritrea	debub	faqeyH	1	0
Eritrea	debub	gWaqWat	1	150
Eritrea	debub	dengel	1	0
Eritrea	debub	adegna	1	0
Eritrea	debub	derbetay	1	0
Eritrea	gax-barka	aKEt	1	40
Eritrea	gax-barka	girat gobru	21	138
Eritrea	gax-barka	demba golom	1	45
Eritrea	gax-barka	gulka	1	52
Eritrea	gax-barka	meQ`I	48	50
Eritrea	gax-barka	kolkolojeQa	1	20
Eritrea	gax-barka	adena	51	82
Eritrea	gax-barka	leQonTeqo	1	20
Eritrea	gax-barka	kurkura	1	20
Eritrea	gax-barka	zban	1	0
TOTAL			137	918

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ongoing Activities

EDF  and VPI are organizing to support the next stage of project development which consists of expanding the solar light distribution to the other villages that have build improved stoves.