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Zimbabwe urged to seriously consider solar energy

by Staff Reporter
29 Sep 2015 at 17:18hrs | Views
Zimbabwe must start seriously considering alternative sources of energy such as solar despite the initial large investments needed to kick-start such programmes.

Zimbabwe has sunlight in abundance but has not tapped that into renewable forms of energy such as solar.

Investments into solar energy are expensive at the beginning but the advantages outweigh the negatives as the sun is a renewable source of energy.

First Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Miss Sisa Sibanda said using of alternative sources of power such as solar and bio-gas must be considered to mitigate the current power shortages.

For Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) President, Mr Busisa Moyo, the immediate switch-over to alternative sources of power by industry is not possible given the levels of investments involved in developing biogas and solar for industrial use.

The national power utility must also account for the 30 percent power loss of its current capacity that amounts to 200 mega watts, said Mr Moyo.

Zimbabwe was host to the World Solar Conference in 1996 but to date, no significant benefits have been derived as solar energy remains just lip service with no action.

Source - zbc