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When power goes out in the rural town of Soroti in eastern Uganda, store manager Hussein Samsudin can only hope it won't go on so long it spoils his fresh goods.
Another shop owner, Richard Otekat, 37, has to pay a neighbour hourly to use his generator during blackouts as he can't afford to buy one himself, while others simply go without.
However residents of the town, surrounded by thatched huts, rivers and grasslands, hope a new solar plant, which went into operation last week, will bring an end to their electricity woes.
The $19 million (18-million euro), 33-acre solar plant—the first of its kind in East Africa—can produce 10 megawatts of power that is fed into Uganda's national power grid.
The project is crucial as Uganda seeks new ways to bring electricity to the 80 percent of its 40 million-strong population that does not have access to power.
Mud hut, solar panels.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday December 22 2016, @07:23PM
This is why crank powered radios are a thing. They were originally invented for people that aren't connected to the grid, virtually anybody can crank the radio for a few minutes and get sound out of it and with that at least a basic understanding of what's going on in the country.
But, it definitely is interesting that the guy who gave up some of his land for the plant appears to not be benefiting from it directly.