Mayotte’s streetlights powered by Indian Ocean sunshine
Join us today as we journey to Mayotte, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. Mayotte is an overseas French-administrated territory and comprises a main island, Grande-Terre, and a smaller island, Petite-Terre. Our local partner talks enthusiastically about how Fonroche Lighting off-grid solar solutions manufactured in France are lighting up the archipelago’s streets and squares after sundown.
The perfect solution for Mayotte
Mayotte, home territory for solar lighting
Public lighting in the island communities of Mayotte is still relatively limited, leaving infrastructure and people in the dark. This lack of lighting is mainly due to the high cost of energy, following a sharp rise in fossil-fuel electricity prices on the island in recent years. (Source: 2018 figures from INSEE, France’s national statistics agency). Off-grid solar streetlights are therefore the ideal solution, providing powerful illumination for enhanced safety and security after sunset and avoiding expensive electricity bills. Plus, the archipelago enjoys an equatorial climate, with “wall-to-wall sunshine” most of the time — ideal conditions for charging the batteries and providing lighting 365 nights a year!
Proving solar’s credentials
Until recently, solar lighting
suffered a poor reputation on the islands. Local opinions like this were
typical: “Gadgets you stick in the
garden, which don’t light up a thing!” So solar needed to prove its
credentials. Mayotte’s electric utility EDM quickly came onboard to support
this lighting technology.
The first Fonroche off-grid
streetlights were installed for the education authority on access roads to staff
accommodation. Later, the company won a contract to provide lighting for the
business district of Mayotte’s capital city, Mamoudzou. Today, a vast array of
solar streetlights deliver year-round illumination for roads, car parks,
roundabouts, squares, seafronts and more. And during total power outages in
Mayotte, only the areas lit by Fonroche continue to brave the night!
Since November 2016, Fonroche Lighting has won contracts for numerous projects with UGAP, France’s central purchasing agency for local authorities, subsidised by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Mayotte embraces solar
In Mayotte, nights are long and the local
residents want proper lighting for their streets and squares. In the evening, after
the heat of the day, they enjoy going out to sample the fare at roadside
eateries and catch up with friends. Installing solar streetlights helps create more
spaces where people can get together.
The archipelago has a population of nearly 400,000, and the electric grid simply doesn’t have the capacity to allow lighting in all locations. As a result, public solar lighting has naturally found its place in Mayotte.
Working with local partner Luceo
All about people
To develop business in this island
community, Fonroche has been working for the last three years with local company
Luceo through an exclusive partnership agreement. Luceo is EDM-approved and
distributes and installs Fonroche solar streetlights in Mayotte and Réunion
Island.
Commenting on the partnership, the
company’s founder Stéphane Malbert says: “I met Fonroche Lighting’s export sales manager and its founder Yann
Maus when I visited their headquarters in Roquefort, France. I was impressed by
the people, first and foremost, then by their products and their commitment to
further develop and improve them. They trusted me, which in turn gave me permission
to talk more about how I perceive things locally here — I really thank them for
that.” In 2019, the outlook is bright for
Mayotte and Réunion Island!
