When Kanona Thabane was in Lesotho's Thabo Tseka district in 2014, he and his classmates struggled to charge their phones and laptops due to a lack of electricity.
For two weeks, the dealers relied on a meager solar panel to power their cars.
"We were charging our devices at this guy's house," Thabane told China Dialogue, "not from batteries, but directly from the sun through his inverter." "Then my laptop started having battery problems and I decided to look for a long-term solution."
For engineer Tabanin, this solution was a kiosk for charging solar batteries. Through his company Arbitrage PTY, he set up six such kiosks in the Thabo Sikka area and sold them to rural businessmen.
Mashaia's Malimakatso belonged to Molatelu. He said his company suffered heavy losses during the winter season from late March to early September.
"We Maasai people are used to having a lot of trouble charging our phones because portable solar panels are completely dependent on sunlight to charge them," Mulatil said. He described climate change as "a situation that is getting worse because a week can go by without sunlight."
"Business is booming in winter because portable solar panel owners have no choice but to come here and charge their phones for 5 malat ($0.27)," Mulatil added. He explains that the kiosk's solar panels are more efficient.
At current tariffs, most rural households find it more difficult to afford electricity than urban households, as evidenced by the steady decline in average household consumption.
Moeketsi Mpolo is a researcher at the National University of Lesotho
Lesotho is a mountainous country in southern Africa and is the coldest country on the continent. Tabane explained that cooler temperatures are good for solar because "solar panels generate electricity from sunlight, not heat. A bright, cool day is more ideal for generation than a very bright, hot day. "
In addition to winter, Mulatili says that business also increases during the December holidays due to the intercommunity football competitions that take place near his stall. Spectators from neighboring towns come and charge their phones while watching the match.
Solar energy
Whether it is solar power from a stand-alone kiosk or a portable panel at home, it has changed the lives of many Lesotho residents.
The Matulang Jin family depends on it. In Masha's yard, there is a portable blue solar panel powered by a battery covered with a silver cylinder that serves as a phone charger, a lamp, a heater and a stove.
Jane, 57, recalls how they struggled to have clean energy for lighting and relied on the nkuk , a handmade gas lamp .
Recalling being a nursing mother, she said, "I remember very well that we used the NKU to light the house and we had to turn on the light during every sleep throughout the night." He added that the lamp is used to emit black smoke.
When Jane switched from paraffin wax to a solar lamp, she became one of many people around the world who failed to meet the United Nations' 7 Sustainable Development Goals - to ensure "access to modern, reliable, sustainable energy sustainable and affordable for all". With a 2030 deadline for achieving the SDGs, countries like Lesotho have just seven years to meet the target.
At least 47 percent of Lesotho's 2.2 million people had access to electricity in 2020, up from 4.3 percent two decades ago, according to the World Bank.
While Lesotho is trying to increase access by connecting rural households to the national grid through its Rural Electrification Programme, first introduced in 2004, researchers say high electricity supply costs and tariff rates make it virtually impossible impossible for rural residents to use the product.
"At current tariff rates, most rural households find it more difficult to afford electricity than their urban counterparts, as evidenced by a steady decline in average household consumption," write the authors of the Journal of Electricity Use and Affordability Among Rural Households in Lesotho.
The authors found that between 2000 and 2016, the number of connections in the country increased tenfold, from about 25,000 to 210,000, but average usage dropped by 60 percent.
Meanwhile, Lesotho's total electricity demand is about 150 megawatts. It meets about 72 megawatts of this demand through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a network of tunnels and dams that generate electricity in Lesotho and divert water to neighboring South Africa. However, Lesotho has a deficit of 73 megawatts, which is covered by the purchasing power of South Africa and Mozambique.
China Dialogue sought comment from Lesotho's Energy Minister, Masikobe Mahulubel, but did not receive a response.
inside the kiosk
The Malimakatso Molatel cargo shed is located in Mashaya, about five kilometers from Jane's house. With green, white and blue colors and large solar panels, it is very different from other buildings as it can be charged and stored in a large white battery during the day and night.
Tapney said he chose Canadian-made solar panels to use in all of his charging kiosks. "There's no reflection loss here, so on cloudy days it performs much better than our population," he says.
Mlatel also sells solar-powered light bulbs that people can use to light up their homes and charge their phones. Despite their durability, the bulbs are charged by sunlight.
Two power banks and a mobile charger are connected. Molatelle charges $0.27 per handset and doubles the price of using an external battery.
Mulatl, 49, said quietly that he first met Tawan in 2019 during a lay meeting in his village.
He said he had struggled to repay the original loan he took out from Tappan to buy the stand when he had to close shop during a series of strict Covid restrictions. He added that he has since repaid the debt.
In addition to solar charging kiosks in Tabana, rural communities benefit from off-grid electricity provided by Lesotho-based energy startup One Power. According to the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics Energy Report 2021, the company's solar mini-grid system went live in March 2021 at Khamkibe in Beria District.
On a larger scale, the Lesotho government is opening its first solar power plant at Ramarotla in Mafeteng District, which is expected to generate 70 megawatts upon completion. The two-phase plant, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China, sparked controversy a few years ago when former ministers were accused of raising the price to pay bribes to politicians who pushed through the deal.
The fight against animal theft on the phone
Rural livelihoods in Lesotho depend on livestock and crops. According to the Lesotho Wool and Mohair Promotion Project, wool and mohair make up 58 percent of agricultural exports.
However, the sector faces challenges, including cattle rustling, which occurs mostly at night. According to Maasai farmer Hopa Thao, one strategy to combat theft is to raise the alarm by calling a popular local radio station in Lesotho.
"As a farmer, you have to keep your phone on at night because you never know when a thief will attack your kraal ," Tao said, pointing to a cattle pen. He adds that his portable solar panel does not produce enough energy to charge a smartphone.
He said he usually goes to a Molatel solar charging station to fully charge his phone. However, sometimes the 27-cent payment becomes an obstacle because "paying five mills seven days a week is too much for us."
However, stalls help combat cattle rustling. As companies like One Power and stable builders like Thaban aim to expand access to electricity across the country, solar energy could become an increasingly important tool for Lesotho's farmers and a more reliable source of energy for rural communities.
This article was originally published on China Dialogue under a Creative Commons license.
