The numbers speak for themselves. Around one billion people still live without electricity and another billion lack access to a reliable power source. Solar solutions present a unique opportunity to increase energy access and fundamentally improve living conditions in many countries, without affecting the climate or environment.
Things are changing in Africa, the main energy access market, and some of the conventional stages of technological development are being bypassed altogether. There is no need for a bank in town when you have a mobile phone – and the town is miles away. The same goes for the energy supply. If there is no grid, you find better solutions to provide energy.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the energy access market is growing. From 2016 to 2018, GOGLA affiliates reported that the total installed capacity of solar modules used to power solar lamps grew by around 73% to 58.81 megawatts. In this segment, these companies cover an estimated market share of 29%. In the off-grid solar appliance segment, 350,000 devices such as televisions, fans, refrigeration systems and water pumps were sold by GOGLA affiliates in Asia and Africa in the second half of 2018. The market may be young, but it is developing at a rapid pace.
Pay-as-you-go systems are one of the innovations that are changing the lives of millions. Customers do not purchase their own solar home system, but pay to use it instead. The share of pay-as-you-go systems in total sales is impressive, at 57% in the solar lamp segment and 92% for off-grid solar appliances. The figures are hardly surprising, as this approach gives people access to energy without the need to first invest in the technology.
