Kigali Solaire

Kigali Solaire is a solar power plant in Rwanda and at the time of construction was Africas largest grid-linked solar energy installation. It was built in 2007 on Mont Jali near the capital Kigali. The plant is using photovoltaics and has a peak output of 250 kW and an estimated annual output of 325,000 kWh. It was constructed and built by the German city of Mainz's utility company Stadtwerke Mainz representing the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which has a partnership with Rwanda.

The plant is only part of the initiative, consisting also of distributing 50 photovoltaic panels of 1 kW each to villages outside the countries power grid, which accesses only 5% of the country. The small stations are usually installed on the roof of hospitals or schools. The initiative is also financing and training local technicians for the maintenance of all the installations.^[1]

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