Electricity Calculus

Much of Rwanda is still off the national electrical power grid.  The government is trying hard to electrify the country, building new power plants, including huge solar farms.  We have been seeing power lines being installed along many country roads in the rural areas, where we have installed solar panels for electricity for some village households.  

In fact, some households with our solar panels installed several years ago are now connected to the national power grid.  We are happy for them.  We are also happy that our solar panels had served them in the years before they could be connected to the power grid. 

Does this mean that there is no need to install solar panels for the households in areas now covered by the power grid?  Perhaps not even areas where the power grid is expected to teach in the coming years?

Far from it.  It may still take many years for the grid to arrive, even if it is promised.  In the mean time, the children cannot study at night, making it hard for them to do well at school, stunting their intellectual development. The lost is irreparable.  Who can give people back their youth?  Likewise, the house wife cannot do house work after dark, making it more difficult to maintain a house properly.  Neighbours cannot meet after dinner conveniently, making human connections and fellowships that much more difficult. 

Even for areas officially reached by the power grid, that is not the whole story.  The fact that a power line crosses over your house does not mean that your house is automatically provided with electricity.  A power line is installed typically on the main road.  The house owner still has to pay the not insignificant cost for the wire and other material and the associated labour to connect you house to the power line.  And if your house is far from the power line, the cost can be exorbitant.  And then you have to continue to pay for the electricity that you actually use. The end result is that even in areas reached by the power grid, many households are not connected and do not actually have electricity. 

The country is working hard to electrify, but it will take many years before the need for electricity is completely met.  The need remains.