ABSTRACT
The EU Commission in Brussels started early on a governmental programme to improve the supply of drinking water and water for irrigation. It was a “regional” programme for the benefit of the nine countries of the Sahel region: Burkina Faso, the Cape Verde Islands, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad. The programme was a solar programme and the technology employed was photovoltaics. The most innovative part of the programme was Internet connection via satellite. The programme was a big success, in particular, for the villagers. The completion of the systems in their village was an invitation for them for an “all out” fiesta with much joy—perhaps the most wonderful popular success of solar energy the world has seen by. The cost was a major hurdle when our Euro-Solar was designed, as the connection cost is too high to be borne by villagers.
