Introduction

Today in Uganda, as is true throughout much of Africa, electricity is in short supply, while the need for it continues to grow. In most of the areas of Uganda where electricity is available, power shedding causes major disruptions to both businesses and people’s lives. In other parts of the country there is no electrical power at all, except for those people wealthy enough to afford generators, inverter or solar systems. It is estimated that only 8% of the population has access to electricity. In other parts of Africa, such as S. Sudan and the DRC the situation is even worse as there is no grid at all..

Most people use candles and kerosene lanterns to light their homes where there is no grid power or during blackout periods. These provide minimal light and have the resulting risk of fires, personal injury and destruction of property.

A partial solution to the problem has been backup inverter systems that charge batteries when there is grid power, that then are used when power is not available. However, not only are these systems expensive to purchase, there is the ongoing cost for the electricity to charge the batteries. It does nothing to lessen the load on the power grid, but instead, increases it.

Another solution utilized is petrol generators.  These are noisy, pollute the environment and are expensive to operate with the high cost of fuel.

Solar power is another option, which is not only more expensive to purchase, but is slow to charge the batteries, is not portable, is subject to theft, and is dependent on the availability of sunshine.

In the last year or so electricity rates here in Uganda have increased 79%.. The electricity company has asked for another rate increase.  Rate increases for electricity will most likely continue for the foreseeable future as building new generation and transmission facilities is expensive.

The need for more electricity is not unique to Uganda. Indeed, throughout the world the demand for electricity is rapidly growing. This partially explains the rising cost of oil, as oil is a primary fuel for generating electricity.

The AAES PowerStation Solution –
The lowest cost alternative energy solution!

It is estimated that there are between 600,000 and 1 million cars and trucks on the roads of Uganda. Worldwide there are over 1 billion vehicles, with more being added daily. Each vehicle is using  nonrenewable fossil fuel and  is adding to the global pollution problem, However they are a necessity for modern life and commerce.

Each of these vehicles has a generator (alternator) that charges the car’s battery. When the batteries are full, the generator which is belt driven continues to turn but the electricity that could be stored for other uses is in essence thrown away and thus wasted.

This excess electricity is captured and stored by the PowerStation to provide electrical energy for home, office or other uses when the vehicle is not being used for transporting.  This electricity is at no additional ongoing cost to the owner/driver as the vehicle uses no additional fuel that we have been able to measure to generate this electricity. It is estimated if just 50% of theses vehicles were outfitted with POWERSTATIONS the load on the power grid would be reduced by 10 to 20 percent or more.

Only 8% of the population of Uganda has electricity, even part of the time. Most of those who have power live in Kampala, the capital, or other large cities. Even in the cities there are frequent periods of power outages due to load shedding and other causes. Many rural populations throughout much of Uganda have no electricity at all, causing health, quality of life and development problems. Throughout the developing world this is not unusual. Costs to provide those without power, including building transmission facilities, is enormous and take years to build.

The cost of petrol is now over 2,900 shillings (about $1.35) per liter at present in Kampala. It thus becomes imperative that every bit of energy that can be generated from each liter of fuel must be harvested. Since fuel for vehicles is a primary use of oil, getting both transportation and electricity from each liter of fuel consumed is important to the world economy, the environment, as well as the pocketbook of the consumer.

It is estimated that for every 1,000 vehicles outfitted with PowerStations .75 to 1 Megawatt of electricity could be generated. If just 10% of the estimated 600,000 cars on the roads of Uganda were outfitted with PowerStations, this would equate to adding 50 megawatts of electricity added to the supply with no additional pollution . It thus becomes important that this new technology be brought to Uganda and other developing countries in Africa as quickly as possible.