Solar fee-for-service companies in Africa: lessons for India

Photovoltaic systems - even of small size - remain unaffordable for the majority of rural inhabitants in developing countries. Solar fee-for service companies act like small utilities by providing an energy service against a small monthly fee. Fee-for service schemes enable users to spread the up-front cost of photovoltaic systems over a long period, and provide a solution to the problem of their long-term maintenance. Relying on field surveys in Zambia and South Africa – this chapter focuses on how sustainable rural electrification schemes with fee-for service concessions have been implemented and the difficulties that had to be overcome. Logistic and day-to-day management issues are analyzed. The respective advantages of small and large concessions schemes are presented. Some elements of the institutional framework needed for the massive scale diffusion of solar home systems are presented. Finally, the conditions of implementation of fee-for service schemes are compared to the ones of implementation of micro-credit schemes in the particular context of India.

Solar fee-for-service companies in Africa: lessons for India. In Parthan, B., Harikumar, R. (Eds.), Orange deals - Solar energy policy initiatives worldwide. (pp. 103-114). Kerala, India: Centre for Energy Studies and Policy Analysis.

Lemaire, X.M.L. (2012)

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