KPRT engineers conduct sustainable energy trials

By Captain Ryan Gregg

Camp Nathan Smith — In a province where a reliable supply of electricity is still far from reality, the Specialist Engineer Team (SET), part of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT), is looking at alternative energy solutions to meet local needs.

With sunshine plentiful in Kandahar, it only makes sense to turn to photovoltaic technology to produce electricity in a sustainable manner at low cost. Solar technology is not new to Afghanistan. The many international donors operating here provide plenty of opportunities for solar energy companies willing to face the security challenge.

Although SET engineers have experience in every kind of construction, they needed to learn more about solar technology before planning any large-scale projects. Consequently, the SET developed a project to conduct trials with three types of solar energy products: streetlights, well pumps and home-lighting systems.

The trial project was designed to provide a variety of contracting opportunities for local suppliers. This arrangement not only produced installations of several kinds for study and comparison, it is also gave Afghan contractors a chance to be mentors to the specialist engineers, who normally play the mentoring role on jobsites. Working together, SET engineers and Afghan contractors installed five solar streetlights, two solar well pumps and one solar home-lighting system.

These systems are good examples of what Canadian troops can use in the field, and they provide models for SET engineers mentoring Afghan installers of solar systems in future projects.

The solar product trials project still has work to do. Planned installations include more streetlights and smaller home-lighting systems that can provide a small Afghan family home up to five hours of power per day at relatively little cost.