Draft:Solar Giraffe
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Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid by my employer for my contributions to this article. Morgado ruben (talk) 20:02, 6 September 2026 (UTC)
The Solar Giraffe (Template:Lang-pt) is an off-grid solar-powered communal structure developed in Mozambique by the Carlos Morgado Foundation (Fundação Carlos Morgado, FCM). It combines a photovoltaic array, a shading roof and a technical cabinet to provide public lighting, mobile-phone charging and community radio in rural areas without access to the national electricity grid. The first unit was installed in Mangunze, Chogoene Distric Gaza Province, in 2020, and further units have since been built in Niassa, Inhambane, Cabo Delgado, Maputo Province and Maputo.[1][2]
Background
[edit]Electricity access in Mozambique is marked by a wide rural–urban disparity. According to the World Bank, the rural electrification rate was approximately 8 per cent in 2021, against 72 per cent in urban areas.[3][4] Mobile telephones are nonetheless widely used in areas without a grid connection, making access to charging a recurring constraint on communication and small-scale economic activity.[1] In communities without a grid connection, households commonly rely on individual solar home systems or pay for charging services from neighbours.[5]
Design
[edit]The structure consists of an eucalyptus frame supporting a photovoltaic array and a roof, beneath which stands a technical cabinet housing the balance-of-system equipment and the user interface. The cabinet's front face carries ten mobile-charging outlets and a radio; the rear encloses the switchboard, which limits the loads that can be connected, together with the solar system components.[1][6]
The form arose during consultation on the pilot. The initial proposal was a simple roof carrying solar panels; community members asked that the array be raised out of reach to deter vandalism, and two of the roof's four posts were lengthened accordingly, producing the elongated profile that gave the structure its name.[6]
The design is intended to be modular, and additional functions have been proposed or tested, including internet hotspots, television, computing, water pumping and agricultural refrigeration.[1][6]
Other versions
[edit]Two derivative configurations have been deployed alongside the standard structure. The Mini-Girafa (Mini-Giraffe) is a reduced variant developed for simplified and lower-cost deployment at schools, markets and public squares; units of this type are rated at approximately 450 W of installed photovoltaic capacity each.[7] The Girafateca is an enlarged version that incorporates a Miniteca, a small community library, alongside the charging and lighting functions of the standard structure.
Installations
[edit]| Year | Location | District | Province | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Mangunze | Chongoene | Gaza | Solar Giraffe | Pilot unit; Decommissioned; funded by the Embassy of Ireland[1][8] |
| 2022 | Malica | Lichinga | Niassa | Solar Giraffe | Internally displaced persons (IDPs) resettlement camp; funded by Irish Aid[2] |
| 2022 | Mepelia | Marrupa | Niassa | Solar Giraffe | IDPs resettlement camp; funded by Irish Aid[2] |
| 2022 | Cupo | Funhalouro | Inhambane | Solar Giraffe | Remote community; funded by Irish Aid[2] |
| 2023 | Namau | Metuge | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Remote community; funded by UK Aid |
| 2023 | Saul 2 | Metuge | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | IDPs resettlement camp; funded by the IOM |
| 2024 | Ntessa | Metuge | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the Government of Canada |
| 2024 | Milamba | Metuge | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the Carlos Morgado Foundation |
| 2024 | Incassane | KaTembe | Maputo | Girafateca | Funded by Chapateca and Grindrod |
| 2025 | Chiconelane | Chibuto | Gaza | Mini-Giraffe | Funded by AIDGLOBAL[9] |
| 2025 | Mararanje | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | Mocone | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | Marcune | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Primary school; funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | Ujama | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Primary school; funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | Impire | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | Naminawe | Montepuez | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | Funded by the AKF[10] |
| 2025 | N'Sime | Matutuíne | Maputo | Solar Giraffe | IDPs resettlement camp; funded by the IOM[11] [12] |
| 2026 | Ntocota | Metuge | Cabo Delgado | Solar Giraffe | IDPs resettlement camp; funded by the IOM |
| 2026 | Mussongue | Matutuíne | Maputo | Mini-Giraffe | Primary school; GEF Small Grants Programme[7] |
| 2026 | Tchia | Matutuíne | Maputo | Mini-Giraffe | Primary school; GEF Small Grants Programme[7] |
| 2026 | Matchia | Matutuíne | Maputo | Mini-Giraffe | Primary school; GEF Small Grants Programme[7] |
Partners and funding
[edit]The pilot installation was financed by the Embassy of Ireland in Mozambique on a budget of €7,000, and implemented with the local association Nyikani Mavoko.[6] Mozambique Women of Energy (MWE) has acted as community engagement and training partner, and Logos Industries as solar system consultant and supplier.[5] A subsequent phase in Niassa and Inhambane was financed by Irish Aid in partnership with provincial governments.[2] The 2025 expansion in Cabo Delgado was carried out by the foundation on behalf of the Aga Khan Foundation in Mozambique, in partnership with the Government of Mozambique and with funding from the European Union and the Aga Khan Foundation UK.[10]
In 2026, a project installing three Mini Solar Giraffes at primary schools in Matutuíne District was supported by the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, with a grant of US$20,000 and co-investment of US$5,000 from the Carlos Morgado Foundation. The project included training of local young people in operation and maintenance of the systems.[7]
Operation and management
[edit]At the Mangunze pilot, two women from the community were trained by Mozambique Women of Energy to maintain the structure, assist users and record how the space was used. Use of the installation was free of charge during the pilot phase, with a pay-as-you-go tariff under study; the unit was reported to charge at least twenty telephones a day.[6] Units are operated by trained community members, with women reported as the principal operators at several sites, and are managed locally rather than by the implementing foundation.[13] Later projects have used community energy committees, and have paired installations with environmental education activities in schools.[7] Each installation in the 2025 Cabo Delgado phase involved four local participants, two women and two men, and surplus materials and equipment were handed over to the beneficiary communities to support local maintenance.[10]
Intellectual property
[edit]In 2025 the Carlos Morgado Foundation obtained certificates for the Solar Giraffe logo, trade mark and utility model from Mozambique's Industrial Property Institute (Instituto da Propriedade Industrial).[10]
Reception
[edit]The pilot project was covered by the design publication Designboom in 2021.[1] The Mozambican business newspaper Diário Económico reported on it in June 2021,[14] as did the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association.[15] It has also been reported by the Brazilian social innovation outlet Inovasocial[8] and by the Mozambican magazines Xonguila[9] and Kabum Digital.[11]
The Science Museum in London has featured the Solar Giraffe in its published account of solar power, describing it as an off-grid alternative to large-scale grid projects and noting that illustrated instructions on posters and T-shirts allow users of varying ages and literacy levels to understand how the structure works; a poster in Ronga is among the material shown.[16] The museum's Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery opened in March 2024.[17]
In 2022 the Solar Giraffe was included as one of twelve case studies in a study of community-driven decentralised renewable energy published by the Alliance for Rural Electrification with the German Green People's Energy programme, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "'Solar giraffe' is a communal space to charge cellphones in Mozambique". Designboom. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Solar Giraffe in Niassa and Inhambane". energypedia. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "World Bank supports greater access to energy and broadband services in rural Mozambique" (Press release). World Bank. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) – Mozambique". World Development Indicators. World Bank. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Solar Giraffe in Mozambique". energypedia. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mohapatra, Deepak; Moyo, Sandisiwe; Jaeger, Jens; Lecoque, David (March 2022). Understanding the Clean Energy Transition with Community-Driven Decentralised Renewable Energy Projects in Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa (PDF) (Report). Alliance for Rural Electrification / Green People's Energy. pp. 37–39. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "When a community finds its light". United Nations Development Programme. 2026. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 "A Mini-Girafa Solar de Chiconelane". Xonguila (in Portuguese). No. 86. November 2025. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Mais seis comunidades e duas escolas primárias em Cabo Delgado beneficiam de energia solar" (in Portuguese). Associação Moçambicana de Energias Renováveis (AMER). 6 June 2025. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Fundação Carlos Morgado leva energia limpa à comunidade de N'Sime". Kabum Digital (in Portuguese). 4 December 2025. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "Mozambique: 'Solar Giraffe' provides power to 45,000 people without electricity". Lusa. 2026-09-21. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
- ↑ "The solar project powering communities in rural Mozambique". ASEZA. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ Cleusia (3 June 2021). ""Girafa Solar" quer levar electricidade às comunidades rurais". Diário Económico (in Portuguese). Maputo. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "Girafa Solar wants to bring electricity to rural communities". Associação Lusófona de Energias Renováveis (ALER). 28 May 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "Solar power". Science Museum. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- ↑ "Major new Science Museum gallery explores urgent energy transition needed to limit climate change" (Press release). Science Museum. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
External links
[edit]Category:Solar power in Mozambique Category:Rural electrification
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