Energy in Tanzania

Energy is a very crucial resource it has been debated whether increasing investment on energy will or will not help. Many have argued that it does help to invest in energy as there is a constant need for it.

In investing in energy we have to decide who is investing, is it a private company, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), Parastatal Company, or Government Organization.

When one decides to invest in energy they have to determine the life cycle of the energy that they are investing in weather it is renewable or non-renewable.

Renewable Forms of Energy

Renewable Energy is energy that can sustain itself. Solar Power, Hydroelectric Power, Biogas, and Wind Farms are examples of renewable energy. As of today Tanzania is heavily dependent on hydroelectric power, we have to look for different sources of energy like Solar Power and Wind Farms to increase the energy for homes, businesses, and companies.

Knowledge on how to solve power problems has to be given, Awareness of how to decrease power costs need to be followed. People with homes should be sensitized on using solar power in order to save on energy costs. According to my research done, I have found that a 3 phase (Electricity input of three phases) home needs roughly 93, 114, or 120 photovoltaic cells of size 62cm2 (see figure 1 for more details) the solar panels (photovoltaic cells) in the market today are of size 46.5 cm * 46.5 cm = 2162.25 cm2 (0.22m2) they produce between 100W and 150W costing $135 per panel $480 per battery requiring 12 panels. 3 batteries can require about 36 panels  therefore the cost of the batteries are $ 1, 440 and the panels will cost $4, 860 so the total cost of the batteries with the panels is $6, 300. The installment discussed can generate 12,960 KWh. In Tanzania we have two rain seasons, the Masika (1 week February) and Mwamvule (1 month December). This is when there is very little sunlight therefore in a year we subtract 1.25 months from 12 and we get 10.75 months of sunlight a year.

Figure 1

Amount of Panels	Watts per panel	Energy produced/hour		Energy for 8 hours
93	100	33480000		267840000
120	100	43200000		345600000
114	100	41040000		328320000
size of panel is 62cm2

            As you can see from the figure above there is more energy produces this is because there are 93 panels as opposed to the 36 panels therefore if you divide by three the energy is 11,160KWh slightly less than the 12.960KWh produced by the 36 panels. The world standard estimate for the 62cm2 panels is to produce about 300 watts according to <<reference google search on android>> therefore one can expect to have 3 times the energy described in the above figure 1.