Nibakure Children’s Village (NCV) - Great Lakes Energy

NCV is a home for orphans and children from broken families. They provide the children with a family, safe housing, healthcare, education, and counselling. GLE installed a 1050 W solar PV system and a solar water pump to provide the village with electricity and fresh water.

Nibakure Children’s Village

Partner:

Floraine Brown founded Nibakure Children’s Village (NCV) in 2005, as a home for orphans and children from broken families. Floraine was raised in the US, but inspired by her own troubled past returned to her homeland and dedicated her life to helping the disadvantaged youth of Rwanda.

NCV’s mission is to provide their children with a family, safe housing, healthcare, education, counselling and spiritual development.

Floraine named the village Nibakure, which means, “let them grow and give them hope” in Kinyarwanda.

Challenge:

Construction of NCV began in 2005 in a remote village in Rwanda’s Southern Bugasera district. The initial construction involved building 3 houses for children and their carers to live in.

The village required electricity, but in this remote location there was no connection to the electrical grid. Connecting to the grid was expensive (estimated at $150,000), and was not a viable option for NCV.

The village had an intermittent water supply from the mains, NCV required a reliable water delivery system, with a reliable power-system.

One of the main aims of NCV is to be self-sustaining and financially independent by 2020. They therefore wanted a power source that was sustainable and reliable.

There was no lighting in the guardhouse on the perimeter fence.

Funding for the village is sporadic, so the system design had to allow for an increase in capacity at a later date.

Solution:

GLE took a step-by-step approach, installing solar feature as the NCV budget allowed.

The first step was to design and install a 1050 W solar PV system, providing electricity to the housing in the village. A sectional solar PV system was designed so that it could be scaled-up as the village is developed. Solar modular heaters were installed in the 3 houses in the village to provide hot water to the residents.

GLE then installed a solar water pump with a stand alone solar PV-system(510 W) to supply the village with fresh water.

GLE later designed and installed a DC gate lighting system, with a stand alone solar PV-system (170 W).

Impact:

In keeping with the 2020 sustainability vision, NCV is now powered entirely by solar energy. NCV are proud to run an eco-friendly village and Floraine’s vision is that the village will be completely self-reliant by 2020.

The village is home to 19 children, 4 Mamas and Floraine who occupy the 3 houses. These houses are also used as guesthouses to bring in revenue to the village.

By installing a solar PV-system, NCV were able to save costs against connecting to the electrical grid orgenerator and fuel costs. By using a DC-system for the guardhouse and the fence lighting system, NCV were able to save on the cost of an inverter.

The water delivery system has provided the village with a reliable water supply for drinking, cooking and cleaning. The irrigation system has also allowed NCV to create a large organic orchard, which provides food for the children and revenue stream for the village.

NCV also believe strongly in community development.Their farming project was completed in partnership with a local women’s co-op, increasing employment and empowering local women.

Floraine plans for the village to eventually house 150 children, ages 6 years. The solar PV-system has been designed so that it can be expanded easily to meet these needs.

Technology profile:

PV-system: