What we are reading
March 2021
Power for All’s 2021 top trends for energy access
This is an excellent summary of the state of the industry with all its complexity can be found here.
January 2021
Article: Haiti is breaking down renewable energy barriers and developers should take note
In this article, originally published on renewableenergyworld.com, co-authors Dr. Evenson Calixte, General Manager of Haiti’s National Energy Regulatory Authority and Nicolas D. Allien, Acting Head of the Energy Cell at Haiti’s Ministry of Public Works discuss important changes to Haiti’s regulatory framework that make renewable energy investments in Haiti attractive, particularly in mini-grids.
January 2021
January – June 2020 Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report
The last semi annual-sales report from GOGLA, the industry association for off grid lighting, is available by this link here.
This has some interesting information. On page 18 it shows the first half year sales for 2020 for VeraSol approved products (i.e. those that meet the international quality standard which is now IEC 62257-9-8) in Haiti as 2,246. This is only one tenth the level achieved by smaller countries in Africa such as Togo or Benin, which is why OGEF launched its Results Based Financing scheme in November 2020 to promote VeraSol approved products. Click here for more information.
Other interesting issues in the report are the trend to PAYGO (i.e. payment plans) with one third of sales worldwide now being with PAYGO and this channel was sustained even when COVID 19 hit cash sales in many countries (see page 16). Also the continuing growth of high efficiency DC products such as TVs, fans, and now fridges. These products now offer good value to customers, considering the lower consumption of electricity.
Quality, stand alone, solar products and systems are seen as a key part of the solution to bring electricity to off grid households and OGEF is dedicated to helping finance companies selling these products in Haiti.