Girafa Solar em Moçambique
Solar Giraffe em Moçambique
Introdução
O Projecto Girafa Solar é implementado pela Carlos Morgado Foundation com financiamento da Embaixada da Irlanda em Moçambique. Foi realizado em parceria com a ONG local, a Nyikani Mavoko Association. Também incluiu outras partes interessadas, tais como a MWE - Mozambique Women of Energy como agente de envolvimento comunitário e educadora de energia renovável, enquanto a Logos Industries como consultora e fornecedora de energia solar.
- Período do Projecto: Dez 2020- Dez 2021
- Financiamento total: 7000 EUROS
- Beneficiários: Comunidade de Mangunze
Contexto e solução proposta
Mangunze, Gaza, Moçambique espera há anos para ser ligado à rede eléctrica nacional - não é muito longe, mas todos os anos termina e nada acontece. A comunidade voltou-se para os sistemas solares domésticos e outras soluções mais pequenas para a energia. Infelizmente nem todos têm a capacidade de investir, pelo que dependem dos vizinhos ou gastam muito dinheiro para carregar os seus telemóveis.
A Girafa Solar é uma solução autónoma que reúne os membros da comunidade e, enquanto esperam que os telemóveis sejam carregados, discutem questões e desafios da comunidade sob o espaço coberto fornecido.
Consiste numa estrutura para apoiar painéis fotovoltaicos e um telhado para criar um espaço comunitário. O sistema solar alimenta um armário técnico, debaixo do telhado, que oferece 10 pontos de carregamento móveis e um leitor de rádio. Todos os outros sistemas são instalados para apoiar e proteger o sistema eléctrico e os seus utilizadores. No futuro, mais soluções plug-in-play podem ser adicionadas, por exemplo, hotspot da Internet, televisão, computador, e outros.
Business Model
The original Solar Giraffe was installed with a grant but at the moment (Feb 2022) the team is negotiating with a mobile communications company to add the solution adjacent to their antennas and serve the communities.
For the consumers, currently the services are free but a pay-as-you-go solution is being studied. At the moment no financing options are available for new units.
Operation and Maintenance and Monitoring of the System
The system requires minimal maintenance because of the premium quality equipment used and operation is being covered by two trained female community members that educate on renewables and provide assistance to users.
At the moment we don’t offer any repair services nor replacement plans. The e-waste at the end of the equipment life cycle will be managed by us – we brought the equipment to the community we will take it back.
The system uses a remote monitoring system to analyse the production and use of energy while the female managers survey users per age and gender while gathering information on quantity and type of cellphones being charged.
Community Engagement and Impact on the Community
The community was very engaged in the design of the solution and responsible for some key changes that made the project more successful. This particularly community was chosen as our organization already had a relationship with then via other implemented projects.
We are charging more than 300 cellphones a month and the Solar Giraffe has become a gathering space for most youth to listen to the radio, and engaging with each other, while waiting for their phones to be charged. At night, because of the public lights installed, the Solar Giraffe becomes a safety beacon for the community.
Constraints and Recommendations
At the moment the major challenges have been cases of cellphone theft. While we have a lockable system, theft have happened three times. Fortunately, the phones were recovered by the community. Since the second theft we adapted the closed to be more secured. No theft has happened on the solar assets. Recommendations are to not care about looks and to focus on making your solutions functional and safe.
The project was supposed to be installed mid 2020 but this is when COVID-19 pandemic started and hence the project was postponed until the end of the year. For public safety, after being inaugurated the managers of the Solar Giraffe have strict rules on using the space with mask and without large agglomeration of users undermining the potential of cell phone charging.
Videos
Additional Resources
- https://www.carlosmorgado.org/en/initiatives/others/solar-giraffe/solar-giraffe-in-mangunze/ [EN]
- https://www.designboom.com/design/solar-giraffe-community-space-mozambique-10-25-2021/ [EN]
- https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2021/11/19/giraffe-charges-phones/ [EN]
- https://marcasporescrever.com/uma-girafa-que-transporta-informacao/ [PT]
Contact Person
- Ruben Ferreira Morgado (rmorgado@carlosmorgado.org)
- www.carlosmorgado.org
