IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v29y2004i7p1059-1072.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of solar home systems on rural livelihoods. Experiences from the Nyimba Energy Service Company in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Gustavsson, Mathias
  • Ellegård, Anders

Abstract

An Energy Service Company (ESCO) in the town of Nyimba, Zambia, has been operating 100 solar home systems since the year 2000. The company is part of a pilot project implemented by the Government of Zambia with the aim to apply the ESCO concept for diffusion of solar technology. The change in livelihood as a result of the access to electric services has been investigated in a survey. Clients were satisfied with the services they receive, although they are paying more than previously for energy. Light hours did not increase, but the quality of light was improved, enabling activities such as domestic work at night and studying for longer hours. Many of the clients had acquired TV and video, and become part of a more global culture. Appliances for entertainment, such as video and TV, were considered more attractive than productive appliances such as a water pump by many respondents. In some cases also people from households without solar installations benefited from the installations, for instance, children gathering in houses with solar to study at night.

Suggested Citation

  • Gustavsson, Mathias & Ellegård, Anders, 2004. "The impact of solar home systems on rural livelihoods. Experiences from the Nyimba Energy Service Company in Zambia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1059-1072.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:29:y:2004:i:7:p:1059-1072
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2003.11.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148103003586
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2003.11.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duke, Richard D. & Jacobson, Arne & Kammen, Daniel M., 2002. "Photovoltaic module quality in the Kenyan solar home systems market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 477-499, May.
    2. Mulugetta, Yacob & Nhete, Tinashe & Jackson, Tim, 2000. "Photovoltaics in Zimbabwe: lessons from the GEF Solar project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(14), pages 1069-1080, November.
    3. Dube, Ikhupuleng, 2001. "PV for rural areas—the power utility (ZESA) Zimbabwe's experience," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 517-520.
    4. Acker, Richard H & Kammen, Daniel M, 1996. "The quiet (energy) revolution : Analysing the dissemination of photovoltaic power systems in Kenya," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 81-111, January.
    5. Turkson, John & Wohlgemuth, Norbert, 2001. "Power sector reform and distributed generation in sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 135-145, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adenle, Ademola A., 2020. "Assessment of solar energy technologies in Africa-opportunities and challenges in meeting the 2030 agenda and sustainable development goals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. George Adwek & Shen Boxiong & Paul O. Ndolo & Zachary O. Siagi & Chebet Chepsaigutt & Cicilia M. Kemunto & Moses Arowo & John Shimmon & Patrobers Simiyu & Abel C. Yabo, 2020. "The solar energy access in Kenya: a review focusing on Pay-As-You-Go solar home system," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 3897-3938, June.
    3. Chaurey, Akanksha & Kandpal, Tara Chandra, 2010. "Assessment and evaluation of PV based decentralized rural electrification: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(8), pages 2266-2278, October.
    4. Bawakyillenuo, Simon, 2012. "Deconstructing the dichotomies of solar photovoltaic (PV) dissemination trajectories in Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe from the 1960s to 2007," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 410-421.
    5. Trotter, Philipp A. & McManus, Marcelle C. & Maconachie, Roy, 2017. "Electricity planning and implementation in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1189-1209.
    6. Holtorf, Hans & Urmee, Tania & Calais, Martina & Pryor, Trevor, 2015. "A model to evaluate the success of Solar Home Systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 245-255.
    7. Sebitosi, A. B. & Pillay, P., 2005. "Energy services in sub-Saharan Africa: how conducive is the environment?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(16), pages 2044-2051, November.
    8. Hansen, Ulrich Elmer & Pedersen, Mathilde Brix & Nygaard, Ivan, 2015. "Review of solar PV policies, interventions and diffusion in East Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 236-248.
    9. Simon Bawakyillenuo, 2009. "Policy and Institutional Failures: Photovoltaic Solar Household System (PV/SHS) Dissemination in Ghana," Energy & Environment, , vol. 20(6), pages 927-947, October.
    10. Vivien Kizilcec & Priti Parikh & Iwona Bisaga, 2021. "Examining the Journey of a Pay-as-You-Go Solar Home System Customer: A Case Study of Rwanda," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-26, January.
    11. Green, Donna, 2004. "Thailand's solar white elephants: an analysis of 15 yr of solar battery charging programmes in northern Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 747-760, April.
    12. Brunet, Carole & Savadogo, Oumarou & Baptiste, Pierre & Bouchard, Michel A., 2018. "Shedding some light on photovoltaic solar energy in Africa – A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 325-342.
    13. Elizabeth Baldwin & Jennifer N. Brass & Sanya Carley & Lauren M. MacLean, 2015. "Electrification and rural development: issues of scale in distributed generation," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 196-211, March.
    14. Gustavsson, Mathias, 2007. "With time comes increased loads—An analysis of solar home system use in Lundazi, Zambia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 796-813.
    15. Vilja Varho, 2002. "Environmental Impact of Photovoltaic Electrification in Rural Areas," Energy & Environment, , vol. 13(1), pages 81-104, January.
    16. Zhang, Minhui & Zhang, Qin & Zhou, Dequn & Wang, Lei, 2021. "Punishment or reward? Strategies of stakeholders in the quality of photovoltaic plants based on evolutionary game analysis in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    17. Sebitosi, A.B. & Pillay, P., 2007. "Modelling a sustainability yardstick in modern energisation of rural sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 548-552, January.
    18. Bensch, Gunther & Peters, Jörg & Sievert, Maximiliane, 2012. "Fear of the Dark? – How Access to Electric Lighting Affects Security Attitudes and Nighttime Activities in Rural Senegal," Ruhr Economic Papers 369, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    19. Ahlborg, Helene & Hammar, Linus, 2014. "Drivers and barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania and Mozambique – Grid-extension, off-grid, and renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 117-124.
    20. Cowan, Kelly R. & Daim, Tugrul U., 2011. "Review of technology acquisition and adoption research in the energy sector," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 183-199.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:29:y:2004:i:7:p:1059-1072. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.