Katherine Roubos
24 July 2007
opinion
Kampala — Ugandans use solar energy every day: the sun dries sorghum for local brews, maize for food, fruit and cocoa for export and of course, the laundry. However, less than one per cent of Ugandans actually use solar technology for electricity. What prevents Ugandans from taking full advantage of their equatorial rays?
Fake or low quality panels hawked on the street do not live up to expectations and give solar a bad reputation, while high transportation costs and marketing challenges prevent solar energy from reaching a large rural market.
There are hundreds of little shops in Kampala that profess to sell solar equipment, but these products are not worth the cheaper price, according to solar industry leaders.
"They don't care about the consumer's needs. They will sell you the wrong size because it's the only thing they have in stock, they offer no warranty, and customers end up with broken or badly installed products. It gives solar a bad name," warns Mr Dhananjay Nandedkar, Energy Consultant at UltraTec, one of Uganda's leading solar companies.
Vendors hawk "Energy Savers" light bulbs on the street for Shs2,000, but these bulbs last only 1 or 2 months, says Mr Nandedkar, "customers are disappointed, and mistakenly equate 'solar' with 'low quality.'" UltraTec bulbs sell for Shs6,500 and last for 2 to 3 years, guaranteed.
Quality issues
In 2000, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) initiated a programme to regulate the importation of solar panels. According to Mr John Okumu, Senior Materials Engineer at UNBS: "Products with inadequate or illegible labels, and products that are not from accredited suppliers will be impounded for testing."
To date, they have educated import inspection officials on methods for quality control and have impounded 1,500 solar panels for testing.
Impounded products pose a significant cost for local businessmen. Even if the panels can be returned to the supplier, such complications damage vendor-supplier relationships and delays can result in customer dissatisfaction. Mr Okumu urges small businessmen importing solar panels to get information from UNBS on quality standards before selecting a supplier.
"Businesses should first import a sample to be tested by the UNBS," he says. Basic tests are free, while more thorough tests required for non-accredited sources range from Shs50,000 for a solar panel to Shs150,000 to test a whole system. Unfortunately, the UNBS programme does not deal with those most likely to sell poor quality panels: small-scale vendors who often display a single solar panel in a hardware shop.
Inspection requirements increase costs for well-established solar companies which are likely to import quality panels, while small vendors continue to hawk unlabeled, unaccredited panels at a lower price.
But what about the 97 per cent of rural Ugandans who don't even have access to electricity? Transportation costs for fragile solar equipment make it hard to offer the poor an affordable option.
"A 50 watt system can cost as much as a 1,000 watt system if we have to take it up-country for installation" says Mr David Sekalegga of Energy Systems Limited.
Some companies have already begun to solve the transportation issue by creating franchises and training agents in rural areas throughout Uganda. UltraTec has seven franchises in rural areas, with plans to open more.
"We train rural agents to market, install, and service our solar products," Mr Nandedkar explains, "that way the customer only has to pay a small transportation fee."
"The need is there, and the market could be," says Mr Martin Kayongo, leasing manager at Uganda Microfinance Ltd. (UML) who facilitates rural access to solar products through loans and leases.
"Rural people who struggle to pay a Shs20,000 school fee certainly cannot afford to pay Shs190,000 upfront for a solar lantern," he says. Microfinance loans or leases offer families an option to pay for the product over a period of up to two years.
"Many rural families already spend around Shs180,000 for one year's electricity needs," says Mr Nandedkar, "It's just spread out over twelve months." Say a family uses 6 litres of kerosene per month, at Shs1,700 per litre; that adds up to Shs122,400 annually. Add to that two phone charges per week at Shs600 each for an annual total of Shs57,600 and a family has spent Shs180,000 for one year's light and electricity.
Not to mention the cost of matches, lamp glasses, and transportation required to reach phone charging kiosks. For the same price, a family could have paid for a solar lantern through a loan from UML, saving Shs120,000 per year in electricity fees thereafter.
Marketing solar to rural communities is a challenge. "We need more rural education programmes" says Mr Kayongo, "many people don't know solar is even an option, much less how much they can save, or that loans are available to help."
Advertising
A little advertising can go a long way, as shown by the partnership between UltraTec, UML and GTZ. With just a Shs44m grant, they trained rural technicians and launched a marketing campaign in Kayunga District. Sales have doubled since the project began six months ago.
With less than one per cent of the energy market, solar energy is not in position to solve the current energy crisis. But with better education, marketing, and real quality regulations - not to mention hopes for cheaper technology, it could provide an excellent option for both Uganda's rich and poor.
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