By Desire Alimocan

Gulu city

The Gulu City Engineering Department has partnered with an Indian-based solar manufacturing company to address the needs and challenges relating to solar street lights in the city area.

Engineers and experts from the Sahaj Solar Limited which is based in India are currently undertaking a pilot research study seeking lasting solutions to the persistent breakdown of solar street lights within the city area.

Gulu city installed 2,447 solar street lights within the 64 kilometers of tarmac highway roads constructed under different projects, but at least 227 of them have broken down and are nonfunctional.

The Gulu city Engineer, Christo Omara Balmoi attributes the problems to weather changes, lightning, road crashes, poor battery performance coupled with poor designs and technologies. “These problems are beyond our capacities as city authorities to address alone”, Omara said. He further added that, “our city engineering department is currently working with a team of experts from Sahaj Solar Limited to assess the situation and recommend the right technologies for the solar street lights system to find out the brightness and capacities of lights needed in the city area, the size of the batteries needed, the size of panels, the optimum design, and the required technology”.

Sahaj Solar Limited, a solar manufacturing company from India through Zeep Constructions Company Limited which was sub-contracted by China Railway 18(CR18) has randomly installed 480 solar street lights with new technologies in different streets within the city.

Andrew Olal Cohen, the managing director of Zeep construction limited based in Gulu city, explained that the new solar street lights have batteries above the ground, spiked poles, automated sensors and lithium batteries which preferably lasts a minimum of ten years as opposed to what was installed.

Pramit Brahmbbhatt, the Chief Executive Officer of Sahaj Solar Limited said, ” our findings discovered that most of the solar street lights do not have the right combinations of the luminary, solar panels, and batteries, hence affecting their charging capacities.” “We believe that some of them require replacement with the right installations and matching parts,” he added.

Robert Rubangakene, a resident of Kanyagoga in Gulu city says that the newly installed solar streetlights under the pilot project have performed better than the old ones and greatly enhanced security along the roads during night hours. “The new streetlights on the new roads are performing better than the old ones, I think the old ones are fake something needs to be done,” Rubangakene said.

Recently, the Gulu city Engineering Department announced that they are seeking up to one billion, nine hundred million shillings (1,900,000,000) to repair the broken solar street lights.

COVER PHOTO: New solar street lights being installed in Gulu City By Desire Alimocan.