Andile Ngcaba presented at the International Electronics Forum i
Andile Ngcaba presented at the International Electronics Forum i
Convergence Partners’ Founder and Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, presented at the 2013 International Electronics Forum held in Dublin from 2-4 October. In his presentation he spoke to the twin challenges of power availability in Africa and its impact on mobile communications.
He said “a key obstacle to making electricity widely available to rural users in Africa is the high cost of photovoltaic systems for solar generation” when he was presenting at the International Electronics Forum in Dublin, Ireland.
“We monitor the price of polysilicon,” said Ngcaba, referring to the key raw material for silicon-based photovoltaics. “The price needs to fall below $10/kg. Only then can you have maximum penetration of solar panels as a way of providing electric power.”
Ngcaba said South African manufacturer Inala, in which Convergence has invested, has developed an energy management system for cellular base stations that could deliver excess power to nearby villages: “A base station requires around 2.75kW of power. Mobile operators will use a combination of wind, solar and generators.”
He added: “We said to the operators, why not use the surplus as a way of powering the village and, in turn, the community can look after the base station… I’m a strong believer that the way to provide electricity to the continent will be this model. It would provide not only power for mobile phones but other devices.”
Ngcaba said the lack of power is a key reason why African users choose limited feature phones over more energy-intensive smartphones. “People carry less-sophisticated phones not because they can’t afford smartphones, but because they want a phone that lasts longer. I carry a smartphone, but when I go to rural Africa I still have to keep this old phone in my bag.”
Although community generation could increase the usage of mobile phones among Africa’s one billion population, Ngcaba explained that cellular operators have been reluctant to try the model because they already outsource base station management: “They are nervous about double-outsourcing. There is also a regulatory issue, as they would need permission to lay power cables into the villages.”