- Organisation profiles

Maphephetheni Development Programme, Kwazulu - Natal Province, South Africa

Prepared by RAPS South Africa for SPARKNET

Project Type/Name

Maphephetheni Development Programme: Solar home system's programme, Hybrid school and clinic electrification system, water pumping and biogas - ongoing as of January 2004

Project Summary

Location

Maphephetheni area, KwaZulu Natal
Latitude 29° 37' Longitude 30° 30'
Magisterial District: Ndwedwe
Regional Council: Ilembe

This is a local project based in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa in a village called Maphephetheni (also referred to as Maphephethe). Maphephetheni village is located in a picturesque hilly area known as the Valley of a Thousand Hills approximately 80km from the city of Durban. It is a rural area characterised by dispersed settlement patterns. Maphephetheni is bordered by the Mqeka river to the West, and the Inanda Dam to the South while the mountainous Pisweni and Matata plateaux are on the Northern and Eastern section of the village. The area is divided into upper and lower Maphephetheni, with the latter being on the southern side of the escarpment adjacent to the dam. Rainfall in the area is far above the national average, keeping this part of the country green.

The Maphephetheni area is presided over by a traditional leader, chief Gwala and a local community representative council. The overall population is estimated at 16 000 spread over 2000 homesteads. This means an average of 8 persons per household. Each homestead consists of an average of 4 dwellings, typically housing extended family members. The average total monthly income per household varies but in 1998, it averaged at R1 392. Subsistence agriculture, small scale informal economic activities and small commercial enterprises are the main economic activities in the area.

The community is dispersed over a large area and eThekwini Electricity is responsible for grid electrification. Primary sources of energy for cooking and heating are firewood, paraffin and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Candles, paraffin, solar home systems and some grid electricity supply are used for lighting. Grid electricity has recently been supplied by eThekwini Electricity (formally Durban Metro Electricity) and it extends to lower Maphephetheni area including the clinic, Kamangwa and Myeka high schools and the local authority administration centre.

Key Statistics

Location: Maphephetheni Village, KwaZulu Natal Province
Scale: Large scale project, initial pilot project targeted 50 households
Budget: R300 000 for the SHS pilot programme
Number of households: Total 2000
54 households electrified in the SHS pilot project.
Population: 16 000
Total installed energy - kWp installed SHS = 2.7 kW
KWp installed School = 2.4 kWp
kWp installed clinic = 0.2 kWp

Contact Details

Mr Will Cawood Solar Engineering Services soleng@...
Tel: +27 31 764-6292, Fax: +27 31 764- 1266

Funding

The following were the main sponsors of the project and their roles:

Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) - programme initiator, portion of project management funding, experience and expertise
US Department of Energy (DOE) - guarantees for loan funding
Department of Minerals and Energy, South Africa (DME) - Part contribution to project management costs, and financial support for project demonstration
KwaZulu Financing and Investment Corporation (KFC) - Provided loan finance
Solar Engineering Services, South Africa (SES) - project management and training of installation technicians
Other private companies - Various private companies donated most of the equipment for the Myeka high school project.
KwaZulu Financing and Investment Corporation (KFC) - An end-user or community financing scheme was set up together with the KFC to provide loan finance over 3 to 4 years.
Valley Trust - provided funding for the upgrading of the Embuyeni Clinic, including PV electricity and hot water.

Replication Potential

There is a great potential for this project to be replicated. In fact, various concessionaires selected by the DME are currently implementing a national non-grid electrification programme in three provinces, and they have adapted some aspects of this pilot programme. EThekwini Electricity has also established a non-grid service company, Durban Alternative Energies Company's (DAEC) who are currently investigating the feasibility of expanding the pilot project and including other energy services and income generating opportunities for Maphephetheni and neighbouring tribal authorities which fall within the eThekwini Metro.

Background

SELF specialises in establishing in country SHS programs to bring basic electricity needs to rural communities using SHS. SES was awarded a contract by SELF to develop and test a mode of practice applicable to SA conditions. After consultation with various grid electricity distributors and rural communities, the Tribal Authority of Maphephetheni was selected as a pilot area for the project. The community of Maphephetheni is scattered along the valleys and ridges of the mountains. The low density of households and the high cost of electricity distribution in the mountainous terrain make the Maphephetheni area ideal for non-grid electrification. The main criteria used to select this area were that grid electricity was not scheduled for at least 5 years, and the community leaders showed a co-operative spirit. To this end, Maphephetheni became one of the first pilot project sites set up to develop and test a mode of practice for the provision of basic electricity to rural communities by use of Solar Home System (SHS). The program got underway in January 1996.

In order to introduce this new technology which is new to the community, the project team adopted a multidimensional approach.

The project management team led by Will Cawood visited key role players in order to solicit their support.
The team raised awareness using promotional materials developed for the project plus surveys and demonstrations.
Developed an organisational structure for setting up an energy committee following local customs. The energy committee consisted of 2 sales representatives, 4 installers, KFC, Maphephetheni Development Committee representatives and a project manager. The project retains 2 installers and an administrator for ongoing maintenance.
The project management team initiated capacity building training and set up structures for maintenance and administration
Decisions regarding financing mechanisms were made together with the community.
The local energy committee handles installation, sales and maintenance
The project management team committed itself to ensuring ongoing local maintenance and expert support

Project Description

The objective of the pilot project at Maphephetheni was to manage the installation of about 50 SHS, and in the process develop a replicable mode of practice for installing SHS in South Africa. The pilot project commenced in January 1996 and was completed within two years. On completion of the pilot project, the Maphephetheni development programme continued. This led to the installation of PV systems at Myeka High School, and Embuyeni Clinic as well as experimentation with solar thermal applications. The program also installed domestic and school biogas digesters and a school PV/Gas hybrid electricity supply at Myeka High School. Gas from the biogas digester at the school is mainly used for cooking by learners who are studying home economics. Gas is also used to power a 2.5kW diesel generator which was intended to boost the PV/gas hybrid supply. However, the school received grid electricity in June 2003 and the intention is to move the PV/hybrid system to another school which does not have electricity. The generator is planned to power a community telecommunications centre known as the Tele-centre. Maintenance for the SHS and the school PV system is provided by trained local SHS installers.

Household SHS installation: The PV systems are referred to as SHS when they are used to provide electricity in households. The basic mode of practice tested through this project is to substitute the retail middle person with a community based solar co-operative that can buy directly from the PV distributors. The idea behind this solar co-operative concept is to be able to make SHSs more affordable to rural communities.

Technology: The SHS package consists of a 50 to 55Wp solar module, 3 compact fluorescent lights of 9W, a 105Ah battery, battery cover and charge controller fitted with 12 volt DC Monochrome TV or 12 V DC radio connection point. The majority of SHS are single module systems with the occasional double module SHS. A simple 50Wp SHS provides enough electricity to power 3 lights for 5 hours each, and also powers a black and white TV set. The battery has sufficient storage capacity under these conditions to provide sufficient power for 3 days under totally overcast weather conditions. In order to operate, a photovoltaic or PV panel transforms sunlight into Direct Current (DC) that can be stored in a 12V battery. A battery controller is connected between the solar panel and the battery in order to ensure that the battery is neither overcharged nor over-discharged.

School Hybrid System: When the project started, Myeka High School, like the other two high schools in the area were not connected to the electricity grid. However, Eskom, the national electricity utility, installed the first of some 2000 PV systems in 1995 as part of its rural schools electrification programme. The 357 Wp x 24 volt AC/DC system provided electricity for three classrooms and the headmaster's office. In order to maximise the benefits of this service, the school purchased an overhead projector, but unfortunately the relatively high costs of overhead transparencies prohibited its use. At the same time, the lights remained largely unused, as the school seldom conducted activities at night.

In fulfilment of the headmaster's vision, SES used the Eskom arrays to provide power sufficient to run a computer centre at the school. In addition, a PV/gas hybrid system was loaned to the school by Mangosuthu Technikon and they received fourteen 75 Wp systems from Shell Renewables, South Africa. The total power supply operates 27 computers, four 74 cm (29 inch) colour TV sets, an overhead projector which is still seldom used printers and a photocopier. The school has internet access and a digital satellite dish downlink via a GSM modem and cellular phone up-link. The school computer centre electrification programme took four years up to 2000 to complete. Because there was a problem of theft initially when Eskom installed PVs at the school, an electric fence has been erected around the arrays and it is also powered by the PV system. Levelling of the site and erection of the security fence and pole array mounts was carried out by the school students under supervision. The school biogas digester was co-financed almost equally by the DME and Winrock International.

Technology: The educational infrastructure at Myeka High School is powered by two stand-alone PV arrays and one solar/gas hybrid generator, with a total installed capacity of 2.4 kWp. Both the Shell and Eskom PV arrays are connected to a 24 volt x 612 AH modified deep-cycle battery bank. The solar/gas hybrid generator has a similar capacity deep cycle battery bank. Both battery banks have been connected in parallel with one another in order to optimize battery energy utilization. The hybrid system, which is on loan to the school from Mangosuthu Technikon consists of a 640 Wp array connected to twelve 2 volt deep-cycle batteries providing 510 AH storage. This system incorporates a UW gas generator connected to a 1.7 kW battery charger. The entire system is linked to a 2.4 kW 220 volt inverter.

The biogas system consists of two 20, 000 litres floating dome digesters which are fed from 16 toilets and two cow dung inlets. Gas from the 11 cubic metre gas holders is piped to the physics and home economics classes. Gas is also piped to a 2.5 kW diesel generator.

Embuyeni Clinic PV electrification: The clinic lacked basic infrastructure such as piped water or access to electricity. The nearest grid supply was approximately 5 km away. The local authority had no plans to connect this remote community to either piped water or grid electricity in the short to medium term. An NGO known as the Valley Trust provided funding for the upgrading of this clinic. The main priorities were identified as electric lights and access to water including hot water.

Technology: Power for lighting was then provided by means of three 75 Wp pole-mounted modules, to operate 14 lights. The same power was also used to run the security system, which includes an electric fence, motion detectors and a siren. Hot water is supplied from a 75 litre close-coupled solar water heater, mounted on a stand on top of the rainwater storage tank. The solar storage tank needs to be filled manually from the rainwater tank. Hot water is supplied to the clinic's kitchen from the top of the solar tank, and the cold water header tank of the solar water heater is used to supply cold water to the kitchen.

Services Delivery

A small community based organisation takes responsibility for marketing SHS and also provides assistance for the processing of loans. Local installers are responsible for installations. SES trains local installers, procures systems and assists with quality monitoring, project management and preparation of marketing materials.

The SHS were provided on a commercial basis to the households in Maphephetheni. These systems were sold between R2 500 and R 3 000 depending on local currency fluctuation, since these solar modules are imported. In line with currency and interest rate fluctuations, repayments varied from R57 per month to R82 per month. Loan funding was provided by the KwaZulu Finance and Investment Corporation (KFC) over a three year term, at commercial interest rates. Some members of the community have experienced difficulties in meeting their monthly repayment obligations, and have unfortunately had their SHS removed. About nineteen systems have been removed due to poor payment record, and thirty systems are paid up, while one is still being paid for on a monthly basis.

Maintenance

Local community members received training to handle installations and maintenance of the systems. An external facilitator was used to provide training and other relevant project support. Maintenance is done on an ongoing basis by the SHS installers, who provide their services to the solar electrified households, school and clinic. All these opportunities allow the technicians to continue to apply their newly acquired skills while earning an income for the services they provide.

Delivery Structure

Both men and women were trained to be sales agents so that they can market the project, but women proved to be more effective at sales than men.

Other Service Infrastructure And Needs

The infrastructure in the area is inadequate and includes the following;

17 communal taps and some on site taps.
Poor minor road infrastructure and fairly good gravel roads.
Peripheral grid electricity
2 solar public telephones
8 trading stores but no other commercial enterprises
5 church buildings,
1 courthouse and 1 community/training centre where all sort of community training take place
3 high schools 14 primary schools.

In addition, there is a bus service which runs three times a day and taxis, which means that public transport is not a big problem in the area.

Water Supply: Umgeni Water has reticulated water via standpipes for approximately 20% of residents close to the main road in lower Maphephetheni. Local Maphephetheni residents performed all manual labour, and received financial compensation from Umngeni Water. They have also conducted tests on a water prepayment metering device. An unknown number of prepayment meters were installed but unfortunately all have subsequently been vandalised, and the batteries stolen. Ultimately the project was abandoned.

SES is currently exploring the possibilities of improving water supply in Maphephetheni through rainwater harvesting and the use of water pumps. This is motivated by the fact that, water for both domestic and gardening requirements is carried manually from a nearby stream, borehole or dam. This is an extremely arduous and time-consuming task, which could be avoided by means of a small pump. The objectives of this part of the programme are to:

Eliminate the need for manual fetching of water for domestic use and gardening requirements by harvesting rainwater and installing small robust pumps respectively.
Provide simple pumps, which can be manufactured and installed by a local entrepreneur in order to generate income as well as disseminate rainwater harvesting techniques.

Telecommunication: There are no fixed line telephone networks in the area but cellular connectivity has improved greatly in recent years and many people now have cellular phones. One high school and a general store have cellular payphones powered by PV systems. The availability of a telephone has increased the number of people visiting the store with the effect that turnover has nearly doubled.

Implementation and Management

Main Service Providers

The project was implemented by Solar Engineering Services (SES) an organisation which is based in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.

Other Service Providers

The following also provided assistance for the program;

University of Durban-Westville (UDW) Sponsored schools Science program and weather station SELF and Private Foundation Assisted with the electrification of Schools Winrock International Job creation program Private companies Donated much of the equipment used for the school electrification program. This equipment includes batteries, PV modules, computers, distance learning software etc.

Local Project Personnel

Two installers and two assistants as well as two sales ladies received technical and administrative training from SES. They are employed part time and receive a commission for work done.

Project Management Team

Will Cawood Solar Engineering Services (SES) Tel: +27 31 764-6292, Fax: +27 31 764- 1266

Renewable Energy Development Group (REDG) - a committee was set up to ensure continued participation of various program participants in the development of Maphephetheni. This committee holds meetings at approximately every four months. The organisations involved in these meetings include the iNkosi (Chief), Maphephetheni Development Committee members from both high school governing bodies, normally a representative from the KwaZulu Finance Co-operation (KFC) and the Valley Trust (socio-health based NGO with training/education relations with the University of Natal) which is an NGO that . REDG also includes members from some major KwaZulu Natal Universities and Technikons who are involved in renewable energy programs. The subject matter covered in these meetings include the SHS programs, schools electrification programs, a biomass program, solar phones and pay phones, and other job creation activities.

Sustainability And Maintenance

All components of the SHS are guaranteed for the period of the loan. Replacement is however subject to the customer's account being up-to-date. The cost of warranty replacements is more than covered by the interest available from the loan guarantee. Consideration is being given to setting up a new loan agreement to cover component replacement costs as virtually all remaining loans have been paid up. This aspect has not been implemented yet, but the intention is to have the customer pay half of replacement costs and the balance to be drawn from the loan guarantee which is no longer required because the loans will be paid up.

Lessons Learned

Social

The impact of technology on rural incomes and women's labour has not been fully documented. However, a recent study shows that biogas makes the greatest contribution as it offers a lasting solution to women's cooking and fuel collection activities.

Women involved in this programme confirm that it has effected a significant reduction in the hardships they have endured over generations. They have also indicated that these interventions have had a beneficial impact in reducing neck-, back- and head-aches, resulting from carrying heavy wood or water loads on their heads.

End-user acceptability of project process - There appears to be general acceptance of the project process. Maintenance is ongoing, which is extremely important, as there is a definite correlation between maintenance and loan repayment. A recent customer survey conducted by the KFC on all the SHS customers indicated that approximately 78% of all SHS were working perfectly.

Theft. Only one incident of theft has been reported for the SHS program since the project's inception. However, modules have been stolen from other projects in the community. These includes 14 of the 36 modules from the Myeka High School, all 14 modules from Chief Dlivali Primary School, all 34 modules from the Kamangwa High School, 4 modules from the Courthouse and an unknown number of modules from the various Telkom installations in the area. The minimum theft of SHS modules in this project is attributed to personal ownership of the systems. Myeka high school has also taken responsibility and ownership of its systems which has significantly reduced theft from the school.

Economic

Job Creation: Some 43 jobs have been created at Maphephetheni during the first phase, indicating the potential of renewable energy projects to create jobs in previously marginalised communities.

Payment history. The pilot project experienced a relatively good repayment record. Bad payers were given a leeway of about three to six months, thereafter tougher measures were taken. About nineteen systems have been repossessed due to non-payment. The money owed due to non-payment is recovered from the loan guarantee provided by the US Department of Energy. Thirty of the thirty-one SHS are now paid up.

Technical

From a technical point of view, the project has been successful in that even though novice community members shared responsibility in installing systems, most of the relevant equipment was installed correctly and is currently being used to provide energy services. Lights. Approximately an equal number of ballast inverters and fluorescent tubes from the 9 W compact fluorescent lamps have given problems. Batteries. Problems were also experienced with the GNB batteries. Ultimately all these batteries were replaced with Willard 774 batteries and Willard solar batteries.

Institutional

Solar Engineering Services (SES) has worked with the same community over a period of about 7 years. Their involvement in Maphephetheni began in January 1996 when they supplied and managed a pilot solar home system (SHS) programme. Through this pilot programme, SES installed over 50 SHS. Since then SES involvement has expanded into various integrated programmes in Maphephetheni including:

School electrification, incorporating a computer centre and distance learning
Clinic electrification and solar water heating
Solar home systems, battery charging and solar-powered pay cellular phones
Solar cooking, crop drying and rainwater harvesting
Biogas for cooking, and a project which is in progress to use biogas for cooking and to power a generator for electricity at a school. The effluent from the digesters is to be used in a school gardening program which has started.
Water pumping to irrigate community gardens and deliver water to homes
Tourism, (new developments in the area attract not just investors in terms of business but also tourists)

The challenges faced by SES in designing and implementing this project included:

Selecting a suitable rural community that was not scheduled to be connected to the national electricity grid within 5 years
Obtaining loan finance and developing the necessary procedures whereby local community members who wanted to purchase SHS could obtain funding
Developing marketing techniques which would cost-effectively sell SHS to small rural communities
Training local community members to sell, install and maintain SHS for their community
Purchasing top-quality SHS hardware at optimum prices to minimise financial impact on target community
Managing the smooth running of the project from start to finish.

Overall, in terms of institutional lessons, Cawood from SES emphasises the importance of involving members of the community as a key element of success in community development programmes. He argues that wherever possible community members were involved in all the aspects of every project in Maphephetheni (Cawood, 2003). For example, with regards to installation, locally trained personnel took responsibility for all DC wiring while all AC wiring was done by a local domestic electrician or wireman, with assistance from the SHS installers.

Implementation Lessons

Special attention is paid to gender issues when planning and implementing projects. Before any project commences, SES assesses the likely impact that the project will have on community and family relationships - husband/wife, mother/child, grand parents etc. and tries to avoid any disruption of these relations. In other words, there is a concerted effort to ensure that community relations are not disrupted. On completion of projects, external consultants are asked to assess the impact the project has had from especially a socio-economic and gender perspective.

Both men and women were included in the technical training for the installation of SHS. Six local community members (3 men and 3 women) were trained as installers, and 2 women were trained as sales staff. Observations made throughout the implementation of the project indicate that:

Women were more successful than men at sales
While women installers took a little longer to train, once trained, they were generally more reliable and delivered neater SHS installations
Men were more proficient at the analytical nature of maintenance trouble shooting SHS

The project is generally regarded as a model of success. Its success is based on the fact that it was undertaken as a basket of projects so that the overhead costs for training, supervision, travel, marketing, financing, quality control and so on can be shared between the projects. Phase two has now commenced, with the objective of providing the necessary infrastructure to enable the Maphephetheni community at large to benefit from the programmes already introduced.

Evaluation

The project has received very good publicity. It has been documented in reports, TV programs and various short articles have been published in conference proceedings including an article by Pierre Bonnet and Theo Andrew (2003) in the "Proceedings of the Domestic Use of Energy Conference 2003" as well as journals. Some published materials are also available online at http://www.solarengineering.co.za/projects_htm1.htm

The project has generated a lot of interest because of the variety of renewable energy technologies used. Below are some of the evaluation comments provided by Professor Maryann Green (2003) of the University of Natal, Durban.

A recent evaluation found that, the ram pumps was working continuously, pumping water to the storage tank. Only one treadle pump was working, and it was used 2-3 times a week to water the gardens. The other two were not functioning.
Access to and control of technology for women was available at any time and they could use it any time when they wanted to. The ram pumps were controlled by women because they were used for the community gardens, however, men took responsibility for their maintenance until women decided to get proper training to undertake this task. Similarly, women controlled the solar ovens and crop drying but they required permission from men to purchase this equipment.
The biogas system installed at the school is still fairly new, therefore cannot be evaluated properly. Otherwise, currently the home economics and science classes are the main beneficiaries. Because it uses human excreta and cow manure, there are environmental and health benefits to the school community at large since rural schools normally have poor sanitation facilities.
Women expressed satisfaction at being able to cook with biogas, because it reduces the time spent on cooking and the drudgery associated with collecting wood and preparing fires. However, the most durable biogas system suitable for domestic use is a slightly expensive.
Benefits from the school PV array and computers are mainly limited by the shortage of power due to the excess use of additional computers.
Women accessed the SHS power readily for lights, TV and radios, but over weekends, soccer (football), a sport that is predominantly watched by men dominated TV viewing.
It is argued that the technology has impacted on women's lives more than men's. For women, the main benefits lie in them being able to do their daily chores with less tiredness, while men's benefits rest with their leisure activities - that is being able to watch TV and socialise with friends.
The energy shop which was envisaged has not materialised. One of the reasons is the availability of affordable LPG in the area, a major commercial fuel for the energy shop.

Pierre Bonnet and Theo Andrew, 2003. Challenges of providing sustainable renewable energy to rural communities in KwaZulu Natal: A case study of the Maphephethe community. Article published in the Domestic Use of Energy Conference proceedings. 31 March -3 April 2003. Cape Technikon, South Africa.

Professor Maryann Green, 2003. South African experiences with renewables. Presentation given at the MEPC/AFREPEN Policy Seminar

Will Cawood, 2003. Personal communication including comments on draft.

Pagename: :MaphephetheniDevelopmentProgrammeSouthAfrica