Rwanda's electrification plans

Rwanda Electrification

Enerthynk, a start-up venture capital think tank, is embarking on a project that hopes to bring electrification to Rwanda, starting with the Mabawa community.

starting with the Mabawa community. The company is proposing a solution that will help create infrastructure and generate revenue using a dish/engine system that converts thermal to solar to mechanical to produce electricity, as reported by Alternative Energy Africa.

A spokesperson for Enerthynk said, "This process is used in the same way that conventional power plants convert thermal energy from combustion of a fossil fuel to electricity." According to Enerthynk's calculations, the energy supply would surpass the essential demand for energy and reach off-grid users.

Safe alternative to steam

"The collector rotates at a constant rate of 15º/hr to match the rotational speed of the earth. The other axis of rotation, the declination axis, is perpendicular to the polar axis. Movement about this axis occurs slowly and varies by +/-23dish½º over a year. Most of the smaller engine systems have used this method of tracking.

The two cylinder Stirling Engine was often billed as a safe alternative to steam, since there's no risk of a boiler explosion. "It was eclipsed by the advent of inexpensive electric motors. However, because it can run on any source of heat, it now holds promise for alternative fuel engines, solar power, geothermal power, etc."

Further investment will almost certainly be needed as The cost for each prototype unit is about $150,000, hardly economical for a developing country such as Rwanda

"Most of these products [refrigerators, ovens, waste decomposers, water purifiers etc] exists using solar panels to power, but the most important this is to create a mini grid to ensure the success in operation of the refrigeration systems and basic lighting in a worry-free manner."

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