Harare- THE Presidential Solar Scheme has gathered momentum and at least 80 houses have been connected to the national grid in Glen View this week, Express Mail Zim can report.
The Special Advisor to the President on Monitoring of government programmes and projects Joram Gumbo on Thursday visited the site and waxed lyrical over the project as it is a timely intervention that can alleviate loads heeding caused by the El Nino induced power crisis.
The scheme involves renting and installing solar panels on the rooftops of houses freely while solar energy generated by these panels will be fed in the national grid.
The arrangement will see participants of the scheme being spared from load shedding by Zesa as a reciprocal gesture.
Lately, solar power has been the panacea to the country’s power outages and this initiative is on sync with the targeted Sustainable Development Goal 7 of ensuring access to clean and affordable energy.
The implementor of the project is Zimbabwe Solar Energy Company (ZISEC), a subsidiary of Prevail Group International (PGI).
The scheme has also boosted employment creation and some idle youths who were abusing drugs have been roped in.
The brainchild of the programme and Special Presidential Investment Advisor Paul Tungwarara said the programme will be rolled out in all provinces.
“We are saying this rooftop system is going to generate the power to their houses. Which means there will be no load-shedding because they are generating the power. We are renting the rooftops from residents so they will also get money out of it,” he said.
Tungwarara is also behind the Presidential borehole scheme which has scored major success.
