webinar – On-site solar and sustainable electrification in sub-Saharan Africa

  

On-site solar has the potential to contribute to increasing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7) for businesses and citizens across sub-Saharan Africa. The commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop market segment has shown strong growth in recent years, with developers seeking to circumvent administrative barriers and grid issues associated with of large-scale solar projects.

There is also a strong market incentive for C&I customers to develop on-site solar projects as it can contribute to their competitiveness. Recent studies have shown that on-site solar is cheaper than electricity tariffs paid by C&I clients in seven markets in sub-Saharan Africa . Furthermore, on-site solar installations coupled with storage can also provide electricity more reliably than the grid in several markets. In addition to this, cost reductions and novel business models have made solar accessible for many citizens in sub-Saharan Africa where only 48% of the population had access to electricity in 2018 . Since 2015, Pay-as-You-Go (PAYG) business models that allow first-time African consumers to buy solar systems on a rent-to-own basis have connected to 5 million households in Africa to off-grid power.

In this webinar, SolarPower Europe in collaboration with GET.invest – a European programme supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria – will gather European and African experts of on-site solar to explore the existing opportunities for on-site solar in sub-Saharan Africa. The webinar will include a presentation introducing the main trends, challenges, and opportunities for on-site solar in sub-Saharan Africa. The presentation will be followed by an open discussion that will focus on the technical and business innovations that are bringing sustainable electricity to sub-Saharan Africa.

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