LIVING AND LOVING IT: How the new solar set delighted my evening in darkness

It is one thing to preach about something and it is another to do it. Last Thursday evening, I felt proud about something I had been encouraging people to do, both verbally but also through my work.

It had been a good day actually. I was feeling better after suffering what the doctor thought was malaria (it never showed in the tests). The day had gone well and I was able to leave a little early. I was looking forward to getting home and playing with the girls.

Loadshedding in the neighbourhood
As I branched off from the highway to use a short cut into Kireka, a few metres into the road, I noticed that there was no power. The place was quite dark and lamps were lined up in all the shops. My mood was suddenly deflated. I thought of how I would now have to get home and eat, read a little and bathe in the dark. I recalled that the babies tend to sleep earlier when there is no power since they cannot read their books, play their games well or have a good girl-fight when it is dark so I drove a little faster, hoping they would still be awake by the time I got home.

I even wanted to change plans of stopping by a supermarket to buy a few things. But I did stop by, picked what I needed and quickly headed home. I finally turned to the road home and continued the journey. I looked at the few homes that had lights on and envied them, knowing they had generators or inverters.

A new tune
About half a kilometre away from home, as I was sighing for the 15th time, I suddenly remembered something wonderful. We had installed a solar system the previous weekend and therefore, we would have power! I was terribly amused at myself for having forgotten that. So excited was I that I started doing a little jig in the car. “We haaave power, we haaave power,” I kept singing gleefully.

Earlier, before he travelled, hubby had advised that we put the solar system off because although what we wanted for a start was to light the home, power the sockets and get the radio and TV on, the battery’s voltage was not enough to do all that.

What it could do properly was light the house and power the sockets. So, we were to wait for the electrician to come and fix all that. In the meantime though, we could use it for lighting and powering the sockets. As I drove home, I figured that since it was off, I would find the house dark but that was not a problem since I would switch the solar system on as soon as I got into the house.

A little light in the darkness
When I turned the corner onto the final stretch to the house, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a very well lit house! I then remembered that hubby had given both I and the house help instructions on how to switch on and off and so she had switched it on.

I tell you, it felt good and humbling to get into a house with power knowing that most of the others around us did not have. Granted, we couldn’t watch TV. But we could read, play, eat our meals with full lights, and charge the phones and lamps (in case the power was drained from the solar battery – which didn’t happen).

Even as I write, I am still beaming from the experience. So, you know what my next line will be. Go get yourself some solar power. It is a worthwhile investment.

cbeyanga@ug.nationmedia.com