Fishing with Solar Power.
Fishing with solar power by night on Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika let the fishermen catch 30% more fish. Kigoma is located in the western extent of Tanzania, on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika. Kigoma Town and its rural surrounds are not linked to the national electricity grid, having instead to rely on small diesel-based mini-grid systems reticulated through the urban village center. Fishing is an important economic activity in the Kigoma region, focused on Lake Tanganyika. The fishermen fish at night using pressurized kerosene lanterns to attract fish to the surface and their nets. This has important environmental as well as financial consequences for the lake, fishermen, local community and wider region. “We identified a significant market potential for the uptake of Solar charged LED lighting by night fishermen. We estimate an existing expenditure on the order of $70 million per year for fuel and lamps by fishermen across all of Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Zanzibar, and the ocean coastline on mainland Tanzania”.
Night fishermen in the lake and ocean areas of Tanzania spend up to half of their take-home income on buying kerosene for lighting and maintaining their lamps, a new study has found. Yet they could catch just as much fish using clean modern lighting systems powered by renewable energies such as solar, and eliminate these huge (35-50% of income) fuel costs.
