Solar energy can uplift rural Ethiopians, but is hard to come by

ITHACA, N.Y. – Even though solar home systems are becoming cheaper and easier to access, barriers to their adoption persist among remote communities in developing countries, where solar panels can promote health and education, according to a new study of two rural villages in Ethiopia.

Affordable, but uncertified and substandard, solar panels, coupled with minimal government involvement in the rural energy-transition process, are among the key factors that hinder access to reliable electricity for local communities.

At the same time, when solar panels are added to homes, they offer a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to kerosene lamps, and they support education by providing children electric light to study past sundown.

“Not a lot is known about how the energy transition to renewable energy is occurring in rural areas in the Global South, so we wanted to understand how households are involved,” said Yujin Lee, a doctoral student in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. Lee is first author of the study, published in the journal, Energy Policy.

“We need to ensure that a global energy transition toward renewable and clean sources should not leave behind those remote or rural populations in the developing world,” said Chuan Liao, the paper’s senior author and assistant professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell.

Ethiopia has developed a national electrification program with an existing and planned national grid system with the aim of electrifying all households within 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of the nearest grid by 2030. Households located beyond 25 kilometers are expected to receive long-term off-grid solutions.

But adoption is partly thwarted by a lack of good quality solar panels in rural areas. Cheap, uncertified panels break within a few years, and they are often left as garbage, creating environmental pollution, Liao said.  

Also, government officials rarely visited villages, especially those outside of the grid buffer zone and those that didn’t have roads. As a result, officials were poorly informed about the realities of rural solar adoption. In Addis Ababa, officials claimed that solar adoption in rural areas was close to 80%, but in interviews with townships in villages, Lee found that number closer to 20%.

“It becomes problematic when government officials try and codify documents based on their understanding, which is very different from reality,” Lee said.

Local youth, many of whom are unemployed, also wish the government offered technical education on solar installation and maintenance, which could create livelihoods. Yet, no program exists currently.

Lee recommends that government officials take the time to visit rural areas, for communities to create platforms to be more involved in managing and being accountable for their own energy needs, and for governments, private companies, international organizations, and end users to develop systems for communicating more effectively.

For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

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