Greenpeace’s “Solar Generation” activists installed solar panels on President Obama’s Grandmother’s house in Kenya last week.
[social_buttons]
In addition to putting solar panels on “Mama Sara’s” roof, the activists put them on the “Senator Barack Obama School” in Kogelo Village as well.
These activities were combined with a 20-day workshop to teach Kenyan youth “how solar photovoltaic panels generate electricity, about their installation and maintenance and the fabrication of self-assembling solar lamps and their marketing potential,” according to Greenpeace. The workshop involves youth from the Kibera Community Youth Program as well as community members of Nyang’oma Kogelo — 25 people in total.
A thankful Mama Sara said: “I am very pleased that my home has been improved thanks to solar energy and I’ll make sure my grandson hears about it. Solar power is clean, reliable and affordable, unlike paraffin that is widely used in the area. Also, we now have qualified youth in the village who can help with the upkeep of the systems.”
Kenya is a very vulnerable country in the face of climate change, already seeing great droughts and agriculture problems as a result. They were relying on large scale hydro power, but need to switch to another sustainable renewable energy source. Solar power is one they are seriously considering.
Greenpeace writes: “The solar industry is ready and able to deliver the needed capacity. There is no technical impediment to doing this, just a political barrier to overcome as we rebuild the global energy sector.”
Learning about and how to make solar panels is a great way to address climate change. Great to see this project in Kenya.
Image Credit: Zoriah via flickr under a Creative Commons license