KENYA
It was the search for alternative energy sources following
the oil crises of the 1970’s, the favourable climatic
conditions for solar technologies and the slow progress
of the Rural Electrification Plan of 1973 and the
1994 Rural Electrification Master Plan that led to
the development of PV systems in Kenya. With a very
large percentage of the urban population and almost
all of the rural population having no access to a
public supply of electricity, solar-based power could
play a significant role in redressing the energy supply/demand
picture, raising living standards and stimulating
the economy.
In the early phase of growth of the Kenyan PV market,
the majority of the components for the systems were
imported with the help of foreign donor aid. During
the 1980’s a domestic manufacturing expertise was
gradually developed which helped to reduce the prices
for consumers and boosted sales of PV systems. However,
during the same period, whilst worldwide technological
improvements contributed to steadily falling prices
for PV components, the political situation precipitated
the withholding of donor aid from Kenya. From 1992
prices increased dramatically, inflation was rampant
and PV sales were very badly affected. The uncertain
financial situation persisted until the mid 1990’s
but following the stabilisation of the currency, the
market began to recover, although government duties
and taxes continued to complicate the situation.
Potentially a very large market for PV systems exists
in Kenya, but to date implementation has been confined
to affluent sections of society. Nevertheless, it
was reported in 1996 that about 40 000 – 60 000 households
had installed solar energy systems, comprising more
than 1 MWp of PV power. In addition to such domestic
installations, over the past ten years several hundred
PV refrigerators have been installed for the safe
storage of vaccines, several water pumping projects
have been initiated and a programme to make low-cost
solar lanterns widely available has been started.
Country Notes
(SOLAR ENERGY)
Australia || Canada
|| China
|| France
|| Germany
|| India
|| Indonesia
|| Israel
|| Italy
|| Japan
|| Kenya
|| Korea
(Republic) || Mexico
|| Netherlands
|| Norway
|| South
Africa || Spain
|| Switzerland
|| Thailand
|| United
States Of America
