Solar energy is key to powering Kenya’s future economic development

Energy specialists all agree that solar power is fast becoming a key part of the global energy mix. 

Solar can play an important role in powering Kenya’s economic development if the potential for this technology is grasped.

Despite rapid deployment of solar technology there are several misconceptions which stand in the way of more rapid uptake of solar, principally the idea that solar is expensive and only suitable for small scale off-grid applications.

Many potential users are unaware of the staggering cost reductions which have been achieved by the solar industry and the scale of projects which are now routinely deployed. 

However “seeing is believing” and there are a growing number of early adopters in Kenya who have installed solar power systems to generate low cost power for their businesses.

These solar adopters are now making significant savings on their energy bills. 

Kenyan farms, factories, offices and shops have installed solar power and are benefitting from clean, cheap electricity and contributing the massive amount of new electricity generation capacity needed in Kenya.

Globally, the solar energy landscape is booming. Production of PV has been doubling globally every two years to meet demand, averaging 48 per cent growth since 2002, making it the fastest-growing energy technology according to latest data from the European Photovoltaic Industry Association.

The future outlook for solar is positive too: last year, the International Energy Agency asserted that the sun could be the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050, ahead of fossil fuels, wind, hydro and nuclear.  

How solar energy works

Solar electricity is possible as a result of the earth’s most free and abundant source — the sun! In a single hour, the sun transmits more energy to the earth’s surface than the world uses in a year.

Solar panels, which can be sited either on rooftops or on the ground, capture daylight and convert it into electrical energy. 

When you group these panels they form a solar power system.  The panels are frames made up of PV cells and when daylight from the sun’s radiation hits the cells, it is converted to direct current (DC) power.

An inverter converts the DC power into AC power and this can be used to power conventional electrical appliances or fed into the grid as part of a nations power supply. 

Solar a money saver for businesses

Due to the long life, falling capital costs and very low running costs of solar power, this renewable energy technology can provide power which is cheaper than retail price power or power from standby generators.

Once the solar system has been installed, the price of electricity generated is fixed for at least 25 years.

The lifetime cost of electricity, also known as levelised costs of energy (LCOE), is Sh11 to Sh15per kWh.

This is lower than grid prices for most consumers and is significantly lower than the cost of power from standby generators. 

In places where power comes from generators — or a mix of the grid and stand by generators — solar is substantially lower than the existing source of electricity.

For many countries the cost of diesel is typically Sh96 to Sh144 per litre, and fuel costs for diesel-generated electricity can be upwards from Sh29 per kWh. 

Solar on the rise in Kenya

Although large scale solar has only just got going in Kenya, it has already proven itself in many countries around the world. 

The UK has a total of 5GW of solar power systems feeding power into the grid or directly to homes and businesses.

Just imagine what these solar panels could do in Kenya which has double the solar resource of northern Europe!

The trend is further boosted by technological evolutions and industry developments along the entire solar value chain which present us today with an energy generation technology that is simple, easy to install and low maintenance.

Kenya, just like her neighbours in the continent, enjoys a favourable location at the equator which allows it lengthy daylight hours throughout the year - and panels need daylight to work, not sunlight.

Solar can be deployed faster than any other type of technology and costs keep falling too as efficiencies improve —so it’s  the perfect opportunity to help diversify Kenya’s energy mix and reduce reliance on dirty, costly coal and diesel power.

The world’s dependency on fossil fuels is totally unsustainable. Not only is fossil fuel environmentally harmful, it can also be costly, and the price unpredictable and inconsistent, whereas the cost of solar continues to fall globally.

As Kenya’s economy grows and demand for power increases, solar is one of the technologies that can be rapidly deployed. 

Where there is no grid power available, small scale and portable solar technology can be used to bring light, communications and even entertainment to the remotest of places.

But solar can also be very large – multi MW power stations feeding into the grid – or business scale, roof top power plants providing power direct to businesses that can help reduce reliance on the grid and save money at the same time. 

As businesses use self-generation as well as energy efficiency to reduce their grid reliance, there will be more grid power available for use elsewhere.

The author is the Business Development Director of Solarcentury in East Africa.