Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook edited by Harald Schützeichel 2017 Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook 2017 edited by Harald Schützeichel © for this edition: 2017 by Sun-Connect News, Freiburg (Germany) © photo frontpage: Stiftung Solarenergie - Solar Energy Foundation No use of this publication may be made for educational or non-profit purpose or resale or other commercial purpose, without the written permission of the copyright holder(s). Contact: Sun-Connect News, Basler Landstrasse 8, 79111 Freiburg, Germany email: [email protected] Web: www.Sun-Connect-News.org Preface _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Preface Sun-Connect News publishes since 2012 practice-relevant articles from renowned international authors of the off-grid business. With more than 8,000 recipients of its regular newsletter, Sun-Connect News is the largest information media of this young industry. The most important and relevant articles of the year 2016 were selected for the present anthology, covering the entire spectrum of the off-grid business. The contributions do not provide a comprehensive handbook, but give suggestions, hints and tips. Some essays are also challenging, stimulate in-depth discussion or opposition. I hope you enjoy this issue of the Off-Grid Industry Yearbook! Freiburg/Germany, March 2017 Dr. Harald Schützeichel Editor of Sun-Connect News _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook 2017 | 3 Content _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Content Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Market The consumerization of energy is just beginning ....................................................................................... 10 Bennett Cohen Electricity is a means, not an end ............................................................................................................. 12 Inga Vesper Africa needs more than a one-size-fits-all energy solution ........................................................................ 13 Daniel Tomlinson What lies behind Africa's lack of access and unreliable power supplies ..................................................... 15 Peter Penar Policy, not finance, biggest obstacle to scaling decentralized renewable energy: Energy Access Summit ............................................................................................................................. 18 William Brent It’s time to change our definition of ‘real’ energy in developing countries ................................................ 20 Daniel Tomlinson The four barriers for the diffusion of solar energy technologies in Africa: Trends in Kenya ........................ 22 Izael P. Da Silva Solving energy poverty through an off-grid solar electricity revolution ..................................................... 26 Jacqueline Novogratz Off-grid solar can be game-changer for electricity access in Central Asia ................................................... 29 Sohail Hasnie Off-grid renewables: the sustainable route to 100% global electricity access ............................................ 31 Adnan Z. Amin 4 Lessons from Power Africa .................................................................................................................... 34 Andrew Herscowitz Energy access and a light-bulb moment: How stronger collaboration on renewables will benefit the Asia-Pacific region ............................................................................................................ 36 Shamshad Akhtar _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook 2017 | 4 Content _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Africa’s green energy challenge: Mega projects, off-grid or somewhere in between? ................................ 38 Peyton Fleming How solar can benefit emerging economies/countries .............................................................................. 42 Courtni Wisenbaker-Scheel Market development trends in the African solar PV off-grid sector ........................................................... 44 Sabi Magyari Off-Grid Living Development should be about happiness, not GDP growth ...................................................................... 50 Daniel Anthes Solar-powered farming, built in Kenya ...................................................................................................... 52 Justus Bahati Wanzala Chbar Chros: outlook of the first solar village and mobile payment system of Cambodia ........................... 55 Sevea Solar power, text messages fight maternal deaths in rural Cameroon ....................................................... 57 Elias Ntungwe Ngalame How women are reaping benefits from Africa's solar revolution ............................................................... 59 Jean Chemnick ‘Suitcase lab’ in the fight against kala-azar ................................................................................................ 62 SciDev.Net Reducing energy poverty not only for solar and impact investors ............................................................. 63 Ned Tozun Maasai women are leading a solar revolution in Africa ............................................................................. 65 Rudi Bressa Living off the grid in the 21st century ....................................................................................................... 66 Victoria Slater Pay-as-you-go irrigation aims to cut water use in Bangladesh ................................................................... 68 Rafiqul Islam Beyond the pricetag: The real benefits of off-grid solar ............................................................................. 69 Paul Gubbins and Julie Zollmann The rise of off the grid communities ......................................................................................................... 74 Christopher Koulouris Off-Grid energy for rural communities: bright promise and caution lights ahead ...................................... 76 Elizabeth Littlefield _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook 2017 | 5 Content _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ As solar power expands the work day, incomes rise in eastern Kenya ....................................................... 78 Kagondu Njagi Pay-as-you-go solar model brings security to small Kenyan communities .................................................. 80 Christabel Ligami Business Rwandan entrepreneur’s solar-powered mobile kiosks charge phones, create jobs .................................. 84 Ann Brown Trading solar-generated power between households to change the way consumers buy electricity .......... 86 Amy Bainbridge Business mentorship gives entrepreneur a choice .................................................................................... 88 Energy4Impact 5 signs sustainability is the new engine for global economic growth ......................................................... 90 Tim Nixon Co-opetition: A way forward for solar actors in developing countries ....................................................... 92 Kassahun Y. Kebede Lighting the way to women’s economic empowerment ............................................................................ 94 Shweta Maheshwari and Jeanne Finestone Who will serve the world’s missing middle? ............................................................................................. 96 Justin Guay Solar panels power business surge - not just lights - in Tanzania ............................................................... 98 Kizito Makoye Solar business models for growth: The private sector needs to lead on India’s rural electrification deficit ..................................................................................................................... 100 Zadie Oleksiw The growing influence of telecom companies in off-grid markets ............................................................ 102 Solarplaza To scale or not to scale? Lessons from India’s off-grid solar technology sector ........................................ 104 Kartikeya Singh Challenges and opportunities for foreign solar energy firms in Africa ...................................................... 107 Jon Sarpong Women solar entrepreneurs drive East African business surge ............................................................... 109 Kizito Makoye _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Off-Grid-Industry Yearbook 2017 | 6 Content _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Finance Fund raising challenges faced by start-ups .............................................................................................. 112 Abhijeet Bhandari How industry leaders drive philanthropy forward in developing countries .............................................. 114 Aimee Williamson Who gets a $1B line of credit? Akon woos Middle East investors for solar lighting Africa business