A half-lying in a wooden chair, completed by a board on which is fixed a metal housing, Uwayezu Martin, 25, a pedal force to recharge with small LED lamps (LED).
This pedal generator of simple design and craftsmanship has changed the lives of thousands of Rwandan countryside, living in areas without electricity, bringing them to light for some cheap and a new revenue stream.
Fisher, Daniel sets his traps Ntibaziyandemye little before dusk, among dense brush in the river Akanyaru, chasing mosquitoes of the hand, ear alert to detect the possible presence of crocodiles that infest the place.
At night, he returns to venture into the dangerous water to collect his catch, a small LED lamp on the front.
“Previously we were using flashlights to find our traps at night,” said Daniel. “But the batteries were so expensive that our profits were meager. Now with these new bulbs, you can fish for a week for less than what it was costing us before. ”
When discharged, Daniel carries his lamp to the merchant who sold it to him and who, like Martin, is the reload pedal strokes.
The generator is a small box approximately 30 cm high, with each side of pedals. We must ride just 20 minutes to recharge and give them five lamps up to 25 hours of battery life, about a week of use for most people.
Every minute and 375 minutes pedaled generates light, a system much more efficient than solar energy, says the company Rwandan Nuru Energy, the source of this invention that allowed him to win the 150,000 euros in 2008 to reward Price Lighting Africa, an initiative of the World Bank.
The company sells on credit generators and lamps to local retailers. They sell the lamps, then recharged every week for one low price.
Nuru Energy “gave me six months to repay the credit of my first lamps, but with the money earned by recharging, I was able to repay in two months,” said Martin Uwayezu.
“I was poor, now I’m a businessman,” he says proudly.
Attack the markets in East Africa and India
Most of rural Rwanda does not have access to electricity and people light up with kerosene and cooking over a wood fire. Over 90% of households in Rwanda use kerosene lamps whose fumes are harmful.
“In addition to being dangerous, it is inefficient and expensive,” explains Holazman Sloan, marketing director Nuru. “Families are spending between 10 and 25% of their income on oil for the only light.”
The boss and co-founder, Sameer Hajee, said he studied the energy requirements and practices of rural Rwandans to imagine a clean and inexpensive technology that can compete with oil.
“Kerosene is expensive, harmful, polluting and dangerous. But it is also portable, reliable and available, “he says.
In addition to the LED lamps, Nuru Energy plans to expand the use of its generators to recharge the mobile phones and other appliances in rural areas without grid.
After launching his first pedal generator in Rwanda, Nuru Energy is developing pilot projects in other countries such as India.
The company now boasts 10,000 customers in Rwanda and seeks to expand to other countries in East Africa such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by the end of the year.