Su-Kam lights up remote villages in the African country Gabon with the power of solar energy

The company has installed street lights in the remote villages of Kango (350 kms from Libreville), Mouila (1200 kms from Libreville) and Bitam (900 kms from Libreville) in Gabon

Street light installed in Mouila village, Gabon

New Delhi, January 7, 2014: Su-Kam Power Systems has made rapid strides in lighting up remote villages in Gabon, one of the many power starved nations in Africa, with the power of solar energy. Su-Kam has installed solar street lighting systems in various remote villages of Gabon which had never seen electricity before. The primary population of these areas comprise of Bushmen and animal hunters. Prior to installation of these street lights, the villagers used to end their day and stop all activity post sundown in the absence of electricity.

However, Su-Kam has given new life to the villagers who have now access to both electricity and employment with the effort of the solar team of Su-Kam.

Total capacity in terms of power generated

Solar street light installations in Kango village, Gabon

Su-Kam has installed 2000 street lights in the remote villages of Kango (350 kms from Libreville), Mouila (1200 kms from Libreville) and Bitam (900 kms from Libreville) in Gabon (Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa). The project was commenced in June 2012 and completed by March 2013. 

The solar PCUs developed and installed by Su-Kam in these areas work on the “Dusk to Dawn” technology and automatically regulate lighting of street lights after sundown. 

(System Configuration: Solar Street Light System consisted of 1500, 11W CFLs, 75Wp Solar Modules, 75Ah VRLA Batteries, Charge controller with Dusk to Dawn technology and Luminaire)

Challenges Faced

This was facilitatedby the street lights installed

• Lack of skilled Manpower- The remote villages in Gabon had scarcity of manpower to install street lights, PCUs and solar panels.

The Su-Kam team had to train local people in the installation and maintenance of the street lighting system. Two local people were trained by the Su-Kam team of experts at every site for maintenance of the street lights 

• No roads for transporting raw material, inhospitable terrains & weather, scarcity of food - The Su-Kam team faced a number of challenges in transporting raw materials to the villages due to the lack of basic infrastructure like roads. In addition to this, the African weather condition was hot and sultry and food was scarce. 

Local villagers trained by Su-Kam

• French speaking population to be trained in the villages – Su-Kam personnel learnt French in order to communicate with the local French speaking people in the villages 

• Unavailability of tools – Unavailability of necessary tools in these remote villages prompted the Su-Kam staff to fabricate tools at the site itself. 

 

Ongoing project in Gabon 

Su-Kam started installing 400 street lights in a Special Economic Zone 50 kms away from Libreville from July 2013 onwards. 

About Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. 

Su-Kam is India’s most admired power solutions provider, with growing presence across India and over 70 countries worldwide covering the major expanse of Africa, Middle East Regions, South East Asia, Latin America etc. A truly knowledge driven company, with innovation at heart, Su-Kam develops intelligent power back-up solutions, engineered to be energy efficient and thus reduce the user’s carbon footprint. 

Headquartered in Gurgaon and with 6 state-of-the art manufacturing facilities certified under OHSAS – 18001, this ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified company leads the market with its product innovation, design sensibility and a large and widespread sales distribution network. The company has over 30000 dealerships in India and 1200 dealers worldwide.

Su-Kam is the only power back-up company to be recognized for its R & D by the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi. The company is credited for filing the highest number of patents in the Industry with an average of 2 patents every month. The company has received several prestigious awards like Asia’s Most Promising Brand Award 2013, Market Leadership Award in Africa 2013, Asian Leadership Award 2013, Business Superbrand 2008, Selected Superbrand 2009, Powerbrand India 2010, National Award for quality Product from Government of India etc. 

Working further towards a cleaner, greener planet, Su-Kam is branching out towards eco-friendly inexhaustible energy solutions like solar power. For more information, please visit www.su-kam.com.

About Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic (French: République Gabonaise), is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa.