Gaspar Makale (1960 circa. to December 2007,

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

) was one of the pioneers of solar electrification in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in th ...

. During the 1990s, he was the Chief Solar Technician at the KARADEA Solar Training Facility (KSTF) in

Karagwe District Karagwe is one of the eight districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Uganda, to the east by the Bukoba Rural District, to the southeast by the Muleba District, to the south by the Ngara District and to the wes ...

, Kagera in Northern Tanzania, situated between Lake Victoria and Rwanda. KSTF, the first dedicated training centre for solar energy technology in the African Great Lakes, was founded by Oswald Kasazi in 1993. During the following decade KSTF gave regular three-week-long training courses which were attended by people from all over the African Great Lakes region (Tanzania,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

), as well as from further afield. The courses were held in partnership with Alternative Energy Africa (EAA), run by Mark Hankins and Daniel Kithokoi,''From Space to Earth – The Story of Solar Electricity'' by John Perlin, published by Aatec Publications, USA, , who were based in Nairobi, Kenya. Makale managed the practical sessions as well as arranging for the field-trips during which course participants installed solar electric domestic systems in the Karagwe district. KSTF also ran a solar apprentice scheme for which Makale was responsible. He was also involved in other solar training courses in Tanzania, such as the one held at Wasso Hospital, situated in Maasailand, Tanzania. Course participants, many of whom later went on to set up solar businesses and work in the growing African Great Lakes solar industry, got their first hands-on experience of installing solar electric systems under Makale's experienced and expert guidance. He installed an Ampair Hawk 100

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

at KSTF for charging batteries, the first wind turbine installed in that part of Tanzania. He also ran his own solar business. While working with KSTF, Makale installed numerous solar systems in local schools, hospitals, clinic refrigeration systems, two-way radio systems, domestic lighting systems. He also installed systems in the refugee camps that sprung up in Karagwe after the

Rwanda genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

in 1994. He made one trip to the USA where he attended solar and wind energy courses at Solar Energy International in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He also ran a solar-powered disco in his own village where he lived with his family on a small farm. Makale also worked closely with Harold Burris of Solar Shamba, one of the first people to see the potential of solar electricity in the African Great Lakes, and with Frank Jackson''Photovoltaics for Professionals'', English language adaptation by Frank Jackson, published by Solarpraxis AG, Germany, from APSO (the Irish state overseas development agency), who worked at KSTF during the 1990s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makale, Gaspar 1960 births 2007 deaths Electrical engineers Tanzanian engineers People associated with renewable energy 20th-century engineers

See also

References