Problems And Prospects Of Solar Energy Technologies In Rural Development Case Of North Kordufan State - Sudan

Abstract

The overall objective of this research is to explore the impact of solar lighting systems, vaccine refrigerator, solar water pump for village water supply, and the black polyethylene evaporator that has been introduced by the Rural Solar Energy Development (RSED) project in rural areas. The study was conducted in two villages in Northern Kordufan State. The data collected by different tools and was analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme and the results were presented in frequency distribution and percentages beside cross tabulation. The study assessed the level of availability and consumptions of energy in the rural areas at the small family level. It also tested the compatibility of the technology of the solar energy cells and solar evaporators and their roles in rural development. The study revealed that the compatibility with the needs of the rural population for electricity and its services, could be achieved but more formal organizational efforts are needed. Also the reliability of the solar energy as a source of fuel is affected by the seasonality and it is more critical in the case of the solar evaporator. In terms of simplicity, ease of operation, installation and maintenance the results revealed that it is achievable in the solar evaporator case, but they are more complicated for the PV systems and training is a must for their performance. The study identified the constraints that face the PV companies and the small entrepreneurs and revealed that the rural people are the least beneficiaries from the solar evaporator. Despite that the likelihood to sustainability in the evaporators' case, was more than for the PV systems. Also, the PV technology applications resulted in improvements in the fields of education and the immunization coverage, but it was not so in the health services and the provision of potable water. The study showed that the solar evaporator technology had a positive impact on the rural communities as it created more job opportunities, advanced women and allowed them to enroll in education besides involving them in running the salt business. It also allowed a shift from wood selling to salt production. The following recommendations were drawn from the results to make the contribution of solar energy to rural development, more effective: 1. Integrate renewable energy technologies (RETs) in any new basic needs programmes / projects. 2. Improve training of local people through identification of training needs and design custom tailored formal training at the level of aggregate villages. 3. Add an intensive component of extension work and integrate it with agricultural extension to promote adoption of solar energy technologies. 4. Delineate the governmental organizations that have access to rural population for the purpose of conducting a survey to find out the energy mix and the possibility of implementation. 5. Integrate rural energy planning in development strategies in all sectors with focus on solar energy