PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Regional shows planned for Kenya as PV standards go unratified

In a move that could triple sales of solar home systems (SHS) to 60,000 annually, Solarnet, a Kenyan NGO for promoting PV and solar thermal in East Africa, is planning to hold ten regional meetings around the country over the next three years.

© Free Energy Europe BV

Imagine: With regional shows, Solarnet wants to see SHS visions become reality throughout Kenya.

David Otieno, Solarnet's project officer, says the Regional Solar Open Days fairs will be held every three or four months, patterned on the annual September national Solar Day Expo in Nairobi. The first show is tentatively scheduled for March 20 in Meru, located about 250 km northeast of Nairobi near Mt. Kenya. Others this year are expected to include Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria in June, Mombasa on the eastern coast in September, and an event in northeastern Kenya in December.

Aside from helping to extend an SHS distribution network through new rural entrepreneurs, the shows are intended to promote good standards for PV components. Kenya, which prides itself on an expanding SHS market without government subsidies, has been rocked in recent years with scandals involving overrated and counterfeit modules (see PI 11/2003, p. 6). The government's Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KBS) has a technical committee working on standards for a-Si and crystalline modules. While KBS did not respond to questions about the committee's progress, Otieno says nothing has been ratified yet.

The danger, he worries, is that the few players that continue to sell overrated modules could damage the market. »We believe that KBS should step in immediately and regularly test panels sold in retail shops,« says Otieno, adding that testing facilities already exist at universities in Nairobi and Moi. »There is no excuse for any further delay.« Otieno expects the recently formed Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA) to serve as a watchdog.