Solar Panel Project in Paranhos
Solar panels provide energy to community facilities
In June 2004, in the wake of a recent war that had ravaged Paranhos, Angola, a small village some 50 miles north of
Luanda, BP Solar and the British government established a renewable energy source
for the 360 people living in the devastated village. A free-standing solar panel installation was established, and
ever since these solar panels have been providing the village with clean, renewable solar energy to help power community
facilities such as the local school, medical facility, water-pumping facility, and vaccine refrigerator. These solar
panels helped the community get on with life even as they felt the effects of a violent war.
Before the solar panel installation, the vilage had been relying on a low-yeild generator that the Pananhos villagers
could not afford to maintain. After being trained how to use the new solar panel installation by the team at BP Solar,
these African citizens become a more self-sufficient and more functional community.
Analysts have been looking at this case as a model for how many small African villages can be powered and put on course
to progress. Solar panels will be an integral part of Africa's future. BP Solar calls the project "a showcase to
demonstrate the potential of solar energy in rural communities in Angola." The local Ministry of Energy and Water is
looking into the issue to see if the Paranhos project's use of solar panels can indeed serve as a model for the rest
of the poverty-striken country.