Use of solar power growing amid hiccups

Strathmore solar plant. [Photo: Standard]

Cost has always been a problem but different interventions are making it easier for many to afford installation.

Owners in buildings in major towns are sitting pretty since the requirement to install solar water heaters was suspended by the courts.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) had required owners of buildings that use more more than 100 litres of hot water a day to install solar water heating systems or face a Sh1 million fine or a year in prison.

However, while many homeowners and buildings fought this requirement, in many areas of rural Kenya, renewable solar energy is often their only option.

Home & Away met Immanuel Sanirei of Enkirgirri village in Kajiado County. Aged 30, he is sitting with his family - his wife and three children. They are watching TV; he says, he has no reason why he should not keep himself up to date with the current affairs when there is enough power. “I watch television for four hours during the day, and another four hours in the evening. That is my strict plan. We enjoy with my family on a daily basis since there is enough power for that,” Sanirei says.

Sanerei tells this writer that since he installed the solar lighting system, which came in with a 24-inch television set, life has not been the same.

He used to spend up to five litres of kerosene a week to light his home and that of his parents. “Kerosene is expensive; I used to spend more than Sh600 on Kerosene every week,” he says.

A few kilometres from Enkirgirri village, is Jamii Bora estate still in Kajiado. James Onyancha, 26, has also been using a solar lighting system in his house for the last one year. The father of two uses solar power for 10 to 11 hours a day.

Since 2017, apart from requiring landlords to install solar heating systems as a source of energy, Kenya has been encouraging the use of renewable sources of energy. It is also among the leading nations in Africa pushing for optimum solar energy use.

Figures from ERC show that more than 320,000 rural households, which represents about 4.4 per cent of rural people in Kenya, have solar home systems. Annually, ERC says, it is estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 PV (photovoltaic) systems are sold in the market.

Kenya experiences a daily average of five to seven peak sunshine hours and an average daily insolation of about four to six kilowatt hours per square metre, which is considered one of the best for solar electric energy production in sub-Saharan Africa.

From 2017, ERC says that the total PV installed capacity was over 20MWp and this has been projected to be growing at 15 per cent annually.

“PV systems commercially distributed to rural areas of Kenya typically consist of 14 to 20Wp, wiring, rechargeable battery, sometimes a charge controller system, lighting systems, and connections to small appliances such as a radio, television, or mobile phone charging units,” ERC says.

Since 2005, the Government has shown increasing interest in solar energy. It is now providing boarding schools and health facilities in remote areas access to electricity through PV panels.

Out of 3,000 institutions in remote areas, about 450 have been equipped with solar systems. 220 schools are electrified with standalone solar PV systems. Apart from committing to the United Nations in push for use of solar energy, British Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s visit to Kenya led to the signing of agreements between solar energy providers in Kenya and their British counterparts.

Among those that who signed agreement for solar energy connections was Simon Bransfield-Garth, the CEO, Azuri Technologies. Simon says that Azuri Technologies, together with Unilever, agreed to help in reaching to everyone in the rural villages with Azuri using Unilever’s network for distribution.

He says their deal with Unilever will see them make use of Unilever Kenya’s more than 67,000 smallholder retailers to distribute the solar lighting systems.

“When we came with (the) UK Prime Minister, Azuri Technology was able to ink a deal with Unilever to help in using their network to reach the rural Kenya to connect them with solar energy,” Simon says. They have so far have made more than 150,000 installations countrywide and have formulated a payment model that has been received well.

“Our Solar lighting system can cost you like Sh20,000,” Simons says, “One is only required to pay only Sh340 per week with an initial deposit payment of Sh7, 772 if they chose to have the TV set in the package. Henceforth, they pay the remaining balance in installments until they are through.”

Those who do not have access to such arrangements cite the cost of solar energy installation as a problem

This is even after the government zero-rated the import duty and removed Value Added Tax (VAT) on renewable energy equipment and accessories in 2012.