Far from being a pleasure trip, Loïs de Varax, a PGE student on the Cluny campus, known for having been the president of the Grand Gala of Cluny Last year, he set himself the challenge of traveling 11,000 km by motorcycle to bring electricity to African villages.
A humanitarian road trip with the family
Loïs is not alone. His cousins Guillaume de Vaumas, a fifth-year medical student, and Sébastien Behaghel, a renewable energy engineer, are accompanying him on this road trip to meet African villagers who have no access to electricity.
"There are 750 million people worldwide without access to electricity, 600 million of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa," Loïs points out.
The adventure began at the end of March and will last four months. No bicycles, like the writer and adventurer Sylvain Tesson, whose stories greatly inspired these three companions, but a journey by motorcycle. "Motorcycle mobility ensures easy access to the most isolated villages." They even benefited from the help of Madou Bocum, the Senegalese champion of theAfrica Eco Race 2020.
Solar panels, a portable and economical solution
Together, they set up the Greenwheel association to collect donations to finance solar panels. A solar kit costs around €200.
Solar panels are one of the only renewable technologies that can be built on a small scale while still being economical," explains Sébastien Behaghel.
"The smaller solar solutions will be able to power an electrical outlet, a light bulb, a television, etc. Medium-sized installations can power a refrigerator, while the largest ones can power a school." The team works closely with local authorities to select the villages where the stations will be located. "Social criteria are given priority," explains Loïs de Varax. In the villages, technical partners such as Qotto or Bboxx-EDF will install the solar panels, establish the connection, and provide maintenance for 3 years.
A road trip to follow on social media
Every week, the Journal de Saône-et-Loire website follows Loïs and his cousins' journey with an interactive map, photos, videos, and anecdotes. Encounters, discoveries... See you there! here.
You can also follow them on their Instagram page by clicking here.
