Building Sustainable Commercial Dissemination Networks for Household PV Systems in Eastern Africa

The overall objective of this project is to stimulate increased rural sales of PV by increasing consumer awareness and by sharing experiences between commercial markets and projects in region. Specific objectives are to:1)To create awareness and to put in place the required technical capacity to market, design, install, maintain PV systems for small needs in one rural district of each country. To assist to develop market linkages between the major commercial center (Addis, Asmara, Dar, Kampala) and a selected rural district. The project will create a sustainable “commercial corridor” of PV supply between importers, dealers and rural consumers in a high potential district. If there is an interested micro-finance group, the project will also attempt to catalyze microfinance in each of the countries. This demonstration will assist stakeholders to further develop the market in other localities. 2)To raise awareness among policymakers and development partners about the role for PV as a part of rural electrification in all countries, and to share policy experiences between the countries3)To build linkages between East African country PV sector stakeholders, including companies, dealers, NGOs, rural energy projects and international companies. To assist commercial companies to develop viable PV businesses in each of the countries, to share successful models, and to enhance trade and information links between neighboring countries4)To encourage international PV companies to participate in the development of the business in East Africa by building awareness of potential markets and by linking them with local stakeholders5)To identify and assist companies that are eligible for SDF finance. To stimulate interest of local finance players in supporting PV projects.