Photovoltaic industry in Uganda : local manufacturers of PV components and imported products - efficiencies and national standards
Abstract
Energy is a key factor for the development of a
country. In many remote areas of the third world with
good insolation such as Uganda, photovoltaic is one of
the most suitable ways of providing energy to rural
areas. The government of Uganda is actually pushing
what is called “Rural Electrification, Strategy and
Plan” to foster a massive purchase and use of Solar
Home Systems. Nonetheless, in order to spread
photovoltaic technology, one of the main difficulties of
a country is the lack of proper framework for
importation of the components, maintenance, and data
on technical performance of these components. This
paper does a national survey on local manufacturers of
deep-cycle batteries, charge controllers, lights and
inverters; panels are not available as yet and it won’t be
in a foreseeable future. Given the importers
possibilities, it also does an economic analysis
comparing products from China, India, Europe and
USA, taking into account the actual governmental
position in terms of taxes on photovoltaic products.
Some valuable data are presented on the experiences of
NGO’s and local communities; how successful have
they been, problems they face, etc.
The concern about quality and the idea of providing the
costumer with a reliable product drove the authors also
to analyse the documents of the Uganda National
Bureau of Standard establishing national standards and
minimal warranty for all components related with solar
energy and write some few considerations. Finally,
taking advantage of other countries experiences a
specific solar home system is designed for Uganda
users.