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RE: Solar Power as an Alternative Source of Power in Africa (Some Pictures of a Friend's Installation Which he did this Past Weekend)
Oh but I don't think they would steal it in order to use it themselves. They'd simply steal it and sell it for a couple hundred dollars. That would be a big prize for people who have nearly nothing.
While adoption of solar in Africa may be low, in my experience Africans are not so out of touch with the world that they don't know that solar panels (or other stuff) are valuable.
I suppose it differs between countries; the amount of poverty and culture.
My experience with Africa has been Zimbabwe/Tanzania/Botswana (awesome countries, awesome people) so I base my views mostly on what I saw and experienced there.
Theft is not much of an issue here.I have witnessed a fallen solar street light that stayed months on the ground on a lonely road. No one thought it necessary to steal it. People may know it's valuable, but I guess it is a technology that most are yet to adopt. So, stealing one may not be an easy venture in terms of disposal.
Also, many solar users are not quick to buy fairly used solar panels as it may be gotten illegally from the government since they run the biggest solar projects, and nobody wants a problem with the government :)
I sure hope nobody steals it, in any case! Being self-sufficient in energy sounds like a great plan in any country, but maybe particularly so in Africa.
Did you ever hear of that guy in Malawi who built a wind power generator from scratch by reading how to do it on the internet? A bit more primitive but I thought that was cool too: https://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind
Yes, I have watched this Ted talk and read about him. Almost with zero knowledge of electricity. We have gifted individuals here. There is a guy that builds RC Quadcopter using the different salvaged part from radio mechanics. He has a zero diploma in electronics or engineering!