Development and utilization of the society over the year, the members of the soc iety spread all

over the country have successfully design and fabricated solar c ooker, solar heaters solar stills, solar dryers, improved wood-stoves, biogas di gesters, passive solar houses, solar refrigerators and air- conditioner, traffic light solar pilot water supply systems and solar even attempts at the local pro duction of silicon solar energy villages have been setup in some parts of the co untry through the efforts of the members of the society energy y. For example th e polytechnic Birnin Kebbi has setup three solar energy villages at Tunga Buzu,G gotomo and Ujario in kebbi state the energy commission of Nigeria through the na tional centers for energy research center (NCERD) university of Nigeria Nsukka a lso set up another model solar energy village at Iheakpu- Aka in Igbo-Eze L.G.A of Enugu state Sokoto Energy Research Centre (SFRC) of the Usman Danfodio univ ersity. Sokoto has also powered some villages with solar energy, notably at kwal kwalawa village in Sokoto. In all the places where the solar energy project is s etup the quality of life of the populace has been installed for the water supply , television viewing and community health centers, mosque, the Islamic school, a nd a mass literacy campaign Centre in march 1987, the society undertook a surety for the Kano state government on the feasibility studies for rural energy syste ms for health, television viewing Centre s and water supply systems all empowering s olar technology. The present manner of harassing our exiting energy sources in N igeria from all practical and economic considerations is rather un- coordinated. The society through some of the members have strongly advocated for a desirable comprehensive energy policy for Nigeria. The effort of the members spe eded up the gaze ting of the final decree on the amended energy commission laws of 1979 and 1983 the energy commission of Nigeria (ECN) was the established late r with one the members of the society. Professor I.H. Umar president of the soci ety and a former vice chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Belewa University, ATBU, Bau chi, professor as Sambo is the present director general of the commission his su pport and encouragement to the society has been unequalled compared with the yea rs before him. Solar energy society of Nigeria aroused the interest of the governmen t towards establishing two national solar energy research centers at university of Nigeria, Nsukka and Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto. During the solar energ y conference at university of Lagos 25-27 march 1998, the then vice president, a nnounced that solar energy training. Research and development at the university society has organized several workshops and in April 2000, photovoltaic workshop was organized at Abuja. This workshop contributed to the initiation of a bill. The solar energy (development and utilization) fund bill in the house of representati ve. The observation and recommendations of the bill by the society and the socie ty has continued to make input to the national assembly on the bill, as it goes through its various stages. Since 1997, the society started energy quiz competit ion among secondary schools during its yearly NASEF and prices are awarded to th e winners. Finally, it is the wish of the society that the annual areas of solar en ergy and other energy resources especially in the point agenda of the federal go vernment. Nigeria consider solar energy, many people still live in houses constr ucted of mud and thatch house, while the use of donkeys or cattle- drawn carts r emains the only means of transportation the standard of living in these rural co mmunities is far from the ideal as people scratch out a subsistence living by gr owing their crops in the harsh conditions found in the communities. While cookin g is done over wood fires. Kerosene lamps provide merge fumes and the danger of fire. In most villages, water of question light to the surface with hand pumps. Rural areas in Nigeria in health, education, transportation and commercial devel opment outside of major cities and towns, there has been very little electrifica tion in the rural areas and what supply there is, is often unreliable unfortunat ely, the solution is not any better in the areas as power supply for both domest ic and commercial purposes have continued to degenerate in contract Nigeria has an abundance of petroleum based energy resources filters down to help the rural population. The failure of non- renewable energy sources (crude oil, gas and fu

el wood) has led to agitations for an alternative source of power in the country . This stems from the perception that Nigeria s overdependence on hydropower h as been a major society economic challenge for the country. It is against this back ground that experts say alternative energy sourc e should be developed to boost energy production and supply in the nation, in in ternational seminar on renewable energy on the theme energy conservation and eff icient solar application in Nigeria. The workshop, organized by solar force Nige ria limited an affiliate of the solar force corporation, USA aims at addressing the same challenges, experiences and emerging technology in the renewable energy industry.

BY DONASCO CHRIS WORLU