Page 88 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

Chapter 5 • Sustainable Solar Energy Collection and Storage 83

FIGURE 5.1 The SPECIFIC ‘Active Classroom’ with roof integrated PV and salt water batteries.

SSA can be divided into four main regions: West Africa, stretching from Senegal to
Chad; Central Africa, from Cameroon to the democratic republic of Congo; East Africa,
from Sudan to Tanzania; and Southern Africa, from Angola to South Africa (Fig. 5.3) [10].
Topographically, SSA is, on the whole, a plateau tilting downwards to the west, but each
of the four regions has its own topographic features, climate, and vegetation zones, all of
which influence local economies.
West Africa is covered by humid equatorial rainforests along the coast and transitions
to semi-arid steppe land in the interior [10]. With the Sahara desert directly to the north,
the northern-most lands of West Africa are drought-prone and difficult to develop, but
oil reserves running from Côte d’Ivoire to Angola sustain the economy for this region.