The app speaks Sesotho and tells you how much money you’ll save! Thamae Mohapi, a student at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), has created a mobile phone app that helps you figure out how much you can save by switching to solar energy! It even tells you how long it will take for the solar system to pay for itself — down to the very last cent!

And the best part? The app speaks both English and Sesotho! So anyone can use it—even your grandmother in the village!

Many people in Lesotho want to use solar power because it’s clean, renewable, and saves money. But there’s a problem. Many people don’t know how much it costs or how long it takes to get their money back. Also, most of the tools that do the calculations are in English, and many Basotho find them too hard to use.

So Thamae thought: “Why not build a tool that’s simple, smart, and speaks our language?”

And that’s how the Interactive Solar Energy Savings and Payback Calculator was born!

Now here’s how it works.

You open the app and it first asks you a simple question: “Which language do you want to use?” If you say Sesotho—boom! Everything changes to Sesotho. Then it asks: What kind of solar system do you want? One that heats your water? Or one that gives you electricity? Maybe both?

You answer a few easy questions: How many people are in your home? Do you use lots of electricity? Do you want to power a home or a hotel? You tap your answers, and that’s when the magic starts.

Behind the scenes, the app is doing some serious number crunching.

It knows how sunny Lesotho is—around 6.5 hours of sunshine a day. It knows how much solar panels cost. It even knows how much you pay for electricity each month. Using all this, it tells you:

• How much electricity your solar system will produce

• How much money you’ll save every year

• How many years it will take to earn back your investment

For example, if your family uses 15 units of electricity a day, the app might say: “You need a 2.3 kilowatt solar system. It will cost M57,500 to install. But don’t worry! You’ll save M12,045 every year. That means in less than 5 years, the system will pay for itself!”

And guess what? The app remembers your past answers. So the next time you use it, you don’t start from scratch. You can even try different setups and compare.

But that’s not all.

The app has a talking helper! Not with a real voice—but with a chatbot that chats with you. It’s powered by something called machine learning. You ask it questions like, “What is solar water heating?” or “How much will I save if I have 10 guests?” and it replies in your chosen language—Sesotho or English.

It’s like having a friendly solar expert right in your pocket!

Thamae worked hard to make sure the app was simple, smart, and made for Basotho. And because it uses real Lesotho data—like our sunshine levels and electricity prices—it gives answers that make sense in our context.

In the future, this app could help thousands of families and businesses choose solar with confidence. No more guesswork. No more fear. Just clear answers.

“This app is not just about technology,” Thamae said. “It’s about giving people knowledge they can use. In their own language!”

And that’s what makes it powerful.
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Visit MILCO (+266 58921648) at Sefika Shopping Complex—home to 100% made-in-Lesotho products. MILCO was founded by NUL Innovation Hub!