There was reason once why Africa was called the Dark Continent. The lush green and almost impregnable African jungles made sure that much of the continent was dubbed as ‘dark’, Unfortunately today the continent has a whole new meaning for the word ‘dark’. Development has been far more slow and sluggish in this amazing land than anywhere else in the world. For much of the time the world has been only bothered about using and exploiting its vast natural resources than to try and make sure that the continent sees some light. Now all that is hopefully about to change for both Africa and the remainder of the world, as green technology is bringing about a whole new revolution.
Sharp will showcase its stand-alone photovoltaic power systems at African Fair 2008 to be held in conjunction with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV). Stand-alone photovoltaic power systems represent a state-of-the-art technology that uses only the energy from sunlight to enable the use of TVs and lights in areas where electricity from utility power grids is typically unavailable. This means that a continent that is rich in solar energy like Africa can benefit endlessly from this amazing system that stores energy.
These systems work by storing surplus power accumulated while electricity is generated during the day, and enabling this stored daytime power to be used at night. Even for the rest of the world, the new innovation from Sharp will ensure that going green when it comes to producing and saving solar energy is a lot easier and a lot more commercially viable. Sharp’s systems combine a PV panel made up of thin-film solar cells which can generate electricity efficiently even in regions with high ambient temperatures thanks to the superior temperature characteristics of these solar cells, with a lead-free, environmentally friendly lithium-ion battery. Sharp is aiming to introduce these systems to the market at an affordable cost by the end of 2010 and I say the sooner the better!
