How a 1,200-person village in Senegal traded diesel generators for solar power

On the southern border of Senegal lies a small village called Keur Niangane. The roughly 1,200 residents of this village reside in a desert zone, hours away from the capital of Dakar. This village is north of the intestine-shaped carve-out country of the Republic of the Gambia and the mouth of its twisty river that leads out to the sea. 

Here, electricity has historically been a challenge–until recently, that is. Through a partnership between ChargePoint and Africa GreenTec, a “Solartainer” is now in place to power up the community. Basically, this sustainable microgrid is a shipping container plated with 144 solar panels, containing enough battery storage to create a predictable, stable source of energy 

Imagine life with unstable power. In America, we’re so used to a consistent power grid in most places that when we have any kind of outage, we panic. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, electricity usage varies significantly per household by day, time of day, and year. For example, power use is high in the summer when air conditioning use is in full swing. On average, the DoE says a typical American household uses 920 kWh of electricity per month, and appliances alone account for 64.7 percent of electricity consumption. Hair dryers, coffee makers, refrigerators, televisions, wifi routers…these everyday gadgets all require energy to run. 

Clean, solar-powered electricity courtesy of the sun

Before the ChargePoint project, Keur Niangane had no access to centralized electricity or public lighting, says Dr. Wolfgang Rams, CEO of Africa GreenTec. Households relied on candles, kerosene lamps, or basic solar home systems, which were insufficient for productive activities. Small businesses often used diesel generators, which can be costly, noisy, polluting, and prone to fuel shortages and breakdowns. 

The International Energy Agency issued a report in 2020 showing that nearly 70 percent of Senegal was connected to the national grid. Truthfully, Rams says, while the community is enthusiastic about gaining access to reliable, clean energy and the opportunities it brings for development, safety, and comfort, some residents expressed a preference for connection to the national grid. However, extending the central grid to remote areas like Keur Niangane “would be prohibitively expensive due to the need for long-distance medium-voltage transmission infrastructure.”

“This decentralized approach offers a cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable alternative,” Rams told Popular Science.

With the Solartainer in place, the village has access to clean, solar-powered electricity. This enables small enterprises to power machinery, expand operations, and increase income, Rams says, which creates jobs and stimulates local economic growth. Plus, technicians are trained and employed to maintain and service the sites; as it is, the setup doesn’t require much maintenance. 

“Productive energy use is central to our approach, as it fosters community entrepreneurship, generates new opportunities, and creates ripple effects that uplift the entire village,” Rams says.

Paid for in carbon credits

Through Africa GreenTech, project sites are based on several criteria, including population density, distance to the national power grid and paved roads, and the spatial distribution of homes. Keur Niangane in Senegal is one of 54 villages chosen under the government-led program for rural electrification through renewable energy. 

A project like this isn’t cheap, and ChargePoint used money from selling its carbon credits on the open market through the EU Emissions Trading System. This program, which requires polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions, was launched in 2005 and operates in all EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. By selling carbon credits earned through 10,000 EV chargers in Germany, ChargePoint raised enough funds for Senegal’s Solartainer. 

“If a company can prove it’s trying to contain emissions, it can trade these certificates,” explains Andreas Blin, Senior Manager Solution Partners for ChargePoint. For every kilowatt used to recharge a car through ChargePoint’s network in the EU, the company is earning credits. If you think about it, Blin says, it’s a “really cool thing” to finance the replacement of Keur Niangane’s diesel generators with money earned from EVs, which use electric motors instead of gas-powered engines. ChargePoint’s long-term goal is to keep earning credits and continue funding this project for the foreseeable future. 

All in, now Keur Niangane has a solar capacity of 56 kWp (kilowatt-peak, or the maximum power a solar panel system can produce under ideal conditions) and it’s connected to a five-kilometer mini-grid, providing clean electricity to 1,207 people in 149 households. The team also installed 55 solar-powered streetlights, significantly improving public safety, extending productive hours into the evening, and enhancing quality of life.