African Solar Salesman
Many more salesmen like this man in Kenya are needed to increase solar photovoltaics (PV) sales. Sales of PV have sharply risen in Europe, America, Japan and China – but Africa sales didn’t even register. In the heady early days of PV market growth, Africa was an important market and there was much talk about how PV would help solve the low access to power throughout rural areas of the continent. Today, Africa does not even feature in PV executives’ world-view and we are no closer to widespread electricity access, PV or otherwise. More that in any other part of the world, solar energy must play a role in Africa, as alternatives become increasingly expensive. New efforts in PV must take different approaches that learn from successes in the North, and mistakes of past projects. An Africa with a large PV market benefits everybody. For more information visit: www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1807
Photo: Mark Hankins
African Solar Salesman
Many more salesmen like this man in Kenya are needed to increase solar photovoltaics (PV) sales. Sales of PV have sharply risen in Europe, America, Japan and China – but Africa sales didn’t even register. In the heady early days of PV market growth, Africa was an important market and there was much talk about how PV would help solve the low access to power throughout rural areas of the continent. Today, Africa does not even feature in PV executives’ world-view and we are no closer to widespread electricity access, PV or otherwise. More that in any other part of the world, solar energy must play a role in Africa, as alternatives become increasingly expensive. New efforts in PV must take different approaches that learn from successes in the North, and mistakes of past projects. An Africa with a large PV market benefits everybody. For more information visit: www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1807
Photo: Mark Hankins