Rural Electrification using off-grid Solar PV powered Energy Kiosks

Abstract

Access to electricity in rural Kenya and other developing African countries is low because historically power utilities employ a centralized grid system of electrification that is expensive to expand and would take decades to reach the majority in these areas thus opening opportunity to decentralized solutions. An off grid solar PV powered Energy Kiosk is one of the possible models of electrification which makes commercially sense in the task of bringing energy to isolated communities. Using data and experience from a pilot energy kiosk installed in Kenya, this paper shows how this facility ably electrifies isolated rural communities and points out how it could be replicated in the rest of developing Africa. Using PV which is a proved technology, the target is to avail electricity for basic domestic use and enterprises in rural communities.