In April 2014, Kenya connected its first solar project to its grid. This was done at Strathmore University in Nairobi. Even though it was very small at 600 kilowatts, it produced exciting headlines in the news. Why has Kenya been so slow with larger scale solar projects? It is not … [continued]
A new study from German Solar Association and the Becquerel Institute has concluded that with the right policies and support, Africa could be adding as much as 29 gigawatts (GW) of new annual solar capacity in 2030.
CleanTechnica has had numerous articles on companies and organizations that are supplying off-grid electricity to consumers in Africa. Since I live in western Kenya where many people I know have these systems, this article is to report on these developments from the Kenyan consumer’s point of view.
Life without electricity can be dangerous and difficult. While Scranton, Pennsylvania earned the moniker “Electric City” in 1880, 90% of rural Americans still lacked power by the 1940s. When the wealthiest nation is just a few decades removed from full electrification, does this make electrifying Africa, where nearly 600 million live without it, the world’s most urgent yet daunting developmental challenge?
As the cost of producing solar electricity continues to fall, solar projects to supply these businesses are technically and financially viable — however, they are not being implemented. This is because there is a structural finance gap in sub-Saharan Africa that prevents many solar projects from having access to finance and thus being realized. But with such obvious cost benefits, why does this finance gap exist?
Following the first summit of the International Solar Alliance held in New Delhi recently, the Indian government has announced assistance worth $1 billion for implementation of solar power projects across several countries in Africa.
Solar power is now the least expensive source of electricity in 60 countries around the world, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Why is that important? Many of those countries are part of the developing world, places where, until recently, people have been living in conditions barely more advanced than feudal times.
70% of people living in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to a conventional electrical grid. Even if they did, the service is often interrupted by a variety of factors. Now, Community Energy Social Enterprises Limited, a Nigerian company, and Renewvia Energy Corporation, an American firm, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide solar power to 25 communities across Nigeria using local microgrids.
Solar powered lights are changing the way people do business in Kenya
Originally published on Solar Love. The island nation of Cape Verde is located 250 miles west of Senegal in the southern Atlantic ocean. It has few natural resources — except wind and sunshine. Virtually everything the nation’s 550,000 people consume has to be imported at great expense by air or … [continued]
