IRENA-去中心化太陽能光伏：性別視角 A GENDER PERSPECTIVE DECENTRALISED SOLAR PV 2024

IRENA

InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV

AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

Copyright?IRENA2024

Unlessotherwisestated,materialinthispublicationmaybefreelyused,shared,copied,reproduced,printedand/orstored,providedthatappropriateacknowledgementisgivenofIRENAasthesourceandcopyrightholder.Materialinthispublicationthatisattributedtothirdpartiesmaybesubjecttoseparatetermsofuseandrestrictions,andappropriatepermissionsfromthesethirdpartiesmayneedtobesecuredbeforeanyuseofsuchmaterial.

ISBN:978-92-9260-632-9

Citation:IRENA(2024),DecentralisedsolarPV:Agenderperspective,InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency,AbuDhabi.

ABOUTIRENA

TheInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency(IRENA)isanintergovernmentalorganisationthatsupportscountriesintheirtransitiontoasustainableenergyfutureandservesastheprincipalplatformforinternationalco-operation,acentreofexcellence,andarepositoryofpolicy,technology,resourceandfinancialknowledgeonrenewableenergy.IRENApromotesthewidespreadadoptionandsustainableuseofallformsofrenewableenergy,includingbioenergy,geothermal,hydropower,ocean,solarandwindenergy,inthepursuitofsustainabledevelopment,energyaccess,energysecurityandlow-carboneconomicgrowthandprosperity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thisreportwasco-authoredbyLauraEl-Katiri(consultant)andCeliaGarcía-Ba?os(IRENA),withadvicefromMichaelRenner(IRENA)undertheguidanceofRabiaFerroukhi(ex-IRENA)andRaulAlfaro-Pelico(Director,IRENAKnowledge,PolicyandFinanceCentre).

CasestudiesweredevelopedbyAgustinCarboandCarolinaPan(PowerforAll).BackgroundinformationfromfocusgroupdiscussionswaspreparedbyAgustinCarbo,CarolinaPan,Penny-JaneCooke,BrendaCherono,BrianKawuma,PoojaKumari,TesfayeHailuandTonyHynes(PowerforAll).

ThereportbenefitedfromreviewbyKavitaRai,CarolineOchiengandNtseboSephelane(IRENA);AlemGebruGebremeskel(ModifyElectroMechanicalSystems&SolutionsPLC);andJulianaLanyero(cloud-Green).

PublicationsandeditorialsupportwereprovidedbyFrancisFieldandStephanieClarke.ThereportwaseditedbyStevenKennedywithdesignbyweeks.deWerbeagenturGmbH.

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ThereportwasmadepossiblethankstothegenerouscontributionsoftheGovernmentofNorwayandtheWalloonGovernment.

DISCLAIMER

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TheinformationcontainedhereindoesnotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofallMembersofIRENA.ThementionofspecificcompaniesorcertainprojectsorproductsdoesnotimplythattheyareendorsedorrecommendedbyIRENAinpreferencetoothersofasimilarnaturethatarenotmentioned.ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialhereindonotimplytheexpressionofanyopiniononthepartofIRENAconcerningthelegalstatusofanyregion,country,territory,cityorarea,orofitsauthoritiesthereof,orconcerningthedelimitationoffrontiersorboundaries.

3

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Contents

Highlights 06

Introduction 08

1

2

DecentralisedsolarPV:

Jobs,skillsandtheroleof

womenintheworkforce 10

DecentralisedsolarPVjobsandskills 14

WomeninthedecentralisedsolarPV

workforce 17

Womenandentrepreneurshipinthe

decentralisedsolarPVsector 20

Barrierstowomen’s

employmentin

thedecentralised

solarPVsector 22

Societalconstraints 23

Societalandculturalbias 24

Perceptionofgenderroles 24

Self-perception 25

Skilling,educationalandprofessional

development-relatedbarriers 26

Genderedworkplacebarriers 28

Biasesfromemployersandcustomers 28

Paygaps 30

Safetyandmobility 31

Lackofworkplaceflexibility 31

Barriersparticularlyaffecting

womenentrepreneursinthe

decentralisedsolarPVsector 32

Accesstofinance,ownershipandassets 32

Unequalaccesstomodernenergy 33

Childcareandfamilyobligations 33

3

4

Casestudiesofwomen-led

enterprises 34

AlemGebruGebremeskelof

ModifyElectromechanical,Ethiopia 34

CatrineShro?of

MwangazaLight,Kenya 36

JulianaLanyeroof

cloud-Green,Uganda 38

Recommendationsto

increasewomen’srole

inDRE 40

Improvingmarketdataandknowledge

aboutwomen’sinclusioninthesector 42

Mainstreaminggenderinallenergy

policiesandprogrammes 42

Providingspecificskill-building

opportunitiesforwomeninall

requiredcompetencies 43

Tacklingsocialexpectationsand

theskillsshortage 44

Creatingapositiveenablingenvironment

forgender-responsivework 45

Loweringbarriersto

womenentrepreneurship 45

Conclusion 48

References 52

4

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

IRIENA

InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency

?eyesfoto/i

?Donyanedomam/i

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV

AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

Listoffigures

Figure1.Totalinstalledoff-gridsolarPV

electricitygenerationcapacity

bycountry,2000-2023(MW) 13

Listoftables

Table1.Job-yearsgeneratedperMW

insmall-,commercialand

large-scaledeployment 14

Table2.Jobsgeneratedineachactivity

forlarge-andsmall-scale

solarPVprojects 15

Table3.Examplesofjobsassociated

withdecentralisedsolarPV

technologydeployment 17

Listofboxes

Box1.Thestatusofdecentralised

solarPVinthisstudy’sfocus

countries 12

Box2.LabourrequirementsperMWin

large-vs.small-/decentralised-

scalesolarPV 14

Box3.TheNigerianElectrification

Project(NEP) 18

Box4.Initiativestoincreasefemale

participation 46

5

ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations

DREdecentralisedrenewableenergy

FGDfocusgroupdiscussion

GOGLAGlobalAssociationfortheOff-GridSolar

EnergyIndustry

IEAInternationalEnergyAgency

IRENAInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency

KOSAPKenyaOff-GridSolarAccessProject

kWkilowatt

MSMEmicro-,small-andmedium-sized

enterpriseMWmegawatt

NEPNigerianElectrificationProject

PVphotovoltaic

SDGSustainableDevelopmentGoal

SHSsolarhomesystem

SMEsmall-andmedium-sizedenterprise

STEMscience,technology,engineeringand

mathematics

USDUnitedStatesdollar

Wwatt

6

SOLARPV:AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

Highlights

?Thenumberofpeoplewithoutaccesstoelectricityroseby10millionin2022,reaching685million,withthemajorityoftheunelectrifiedpopulationresidinginsub-SaharanAfrica.Decentralisedrenewableenergy(DRE)iscriticalforprovidingclean,reliable,andaffordableenergy(SustainableDevelopmentGoal7[SDG7])toremoteandhard-to-electrifycommunities.Decentralisedsolarphotovoltaic(PV)energy,inparticular,presentsaviablesolutiontothisproblemduetoitsscalability,adaptabilitytolocalconditionsandabilitytooperateindependentlyofacentralisedgridinfrastructure.

?Off-gridsolarPVapplicationscreatemanyjobs.Itisestimatedthatinaselectgroupofcountries–Ethiopia,India,Kenya,NigeriaandUganda–theyemployed307000peoplein2023.TheshareofwomenintheoverallsolarPVsectorworkforceisestimatedat40%globally,1withsomeregionsfaringbetterthanothers,accordingtoInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency(IRENA)data.InAfrica,womenhold38%ofallemploymentpositionsinthesector.Womencomprised21%oftheworkforceinthedistributedsolarPVsectorinIndia,28%inUganda,35%inNigeria,37%inEthiopiaand41%inKenya.

?AsisthecasefortheDREindustryoverall,decentralisedsolarPVrequiresmanydifferentroles,includingmanythatarenottypicallyassociatedwiththesector,suchasfactoryassemblywork,office-boundjobs,highlyskilledengineersandsiteplanners.Thesectorcouldemploywomenacrossalargevarietyofskills.

?AcrossAfrica,24%ofscience,technology,engineeringandmathematics(STEM)rolesinthePVsector,and22%ofothertechnicaljobs,areheldbywomen.Theshareissomewhathigherbothinadministrativepositionsandinothernon-technicalroles,wherewomenaccountfor27%ofroles.IntheAsia-Pacificregion,women’sshareishigherthaninIndia,wheretheroleofwomeninoff-gridsolarPVseemstobemoreprominentinjobsthatrequirehigherskills.

?PradeepGaurs/shutter

1IRENAdatadidnotshowanysignificantdifferencebetweenoff-gridandon-gridemploymentofwomen;therefore,itcanbeassumedtherearesimilarsharesofwomeninbothcontexts.

7

HIGHLIGHTS

?AROYBARMAN/i

?DecentralisedsolarPVsystemsaretransformingtheentrepreneuriallandscape,particularlyinunderservedandremoteareas.Entre-preneurshipcanthrivenotonlyinsalesanddeploymentofsolarPVsolutionsbutalsothroughso-called“productiveuse”invarioustypesofenterprises.Byprovidingreliableandaffordableenergyaccess,solarPVsystemsenableentrepreneurstoestablishandgrowbusinessesthatwerepreviouslyconstrainedbylimitedorunstableelectricitysupply.ThesynergybetweendecentralisedsolarPVandentrepreneurshipthusplaysacriticalroleinadvancingsocio-economicdevelopmentandenergyequity.Buttodoso,countriesthatexpandDREneedtomakemorejobsinthesectoraccessibletowomen,whofacemanybarrierswhenaimingtotapintoentrepreneurialinitiatives.

?Womenfacechallengesthatmirrorthoseexperiencedintheon-gridspace.Theseincludesocietalconstraints,includingsocialandculturalbiases,dualburdensfacedbywomen,andself-perception;skilling,educationalandtraining-relatedbarriers,includingbiasesstartinginearlyeducationthatdiscouragewomenfrompursuingSTEM-basedsubjectsambitiously;andothergenderedworkplacebarriers,suchasbiasesfromemployersandcustomers,paygaps,safetyandmobility,andlackofworkplaceflexibility.

?MediaLensKing/i

?Toharnessthevast,transformativepotentialwomenhaveinthedecentralisedenergysector,policymakersandbusinessesneedtomakegenderinclusionapillarofthesector’sfurtherdevelopment.Thisincludesimprovingdatacollectionandknowledgeaboutwomen’sinclusioninthesector;mainstreamingtargetedpoliciesandprogrammesthatprovideaccesstotraining,education,employmentandentrepreneurshipopportunitiesforwomen;andcreatingapositiveenablingenvironmentforwomenworkinginandoutsidethesector,suchasthroughoutreachprogrammesandmediawork,andbypromotingjobflexibility.Specificallywithregardtoentrepreneurship,womenalsorequirebetteraccesstoresources,includingcollateralsuchaslandorcapital,aswellasaccesstofinance.

?Keytoproducingresultsisalong-term,economy-wideapproachthatmakessocietiesawareoftherolewomencanandshouldplayintheireconomies,aswellasincontributingtobuildingmoresustainableandresilientsocieties.TherolethatwomenplayintheDREeconomyiscriticaltomodernenergyaccessandtoensuringcommunitiesthathavenotyetachieveduniversalaccessdosointhecomingyears.

8

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

Introduction

2Notwithstandingsomedifferencesbetweenthem(seeVezzolietal.,

2018),forthepurposeofthisreport,theterms“decentralised”and

“distributed”areusedinterchangeably.

DRE2technologies,inparticularsolarPV,haveemergedasakeysolutiontoprovidingaccesstoclean,reliableandaffordableenergy(SDG7)forremoteandhard-to-electrifycommunities(whereeightintenpeoplewithoutaccesslivetoday)acrosstheglobe(IEAetal.,2024).Some685millionpeoplegloballywereleftwithoutaccesstoanyformofelectricityin2022,10millionmorethanin2021,mostoftheminsub-SaharanAfrica(ibid).

Womenareusuallycharacterisedaspotentialbeneficiariesofdecentralisedenergysolutions,ratherthanasagentsofchange(ESMAP,2022).Thisisinspiteofthesignificantpotentialforwomentocontributetothesector’sdevelopmentthroughtheirwork.DecentralisedsolarPVtechnologiesinparticularcanbeanimportantemploymentengineandthusdrivebetter,moresustainablelivelihoods.In2023,itwasestimatedthatover300000peopleweredirectlyemployedinthedecentralisedsolarPVsectoracrossEthiopia,India,Kenya,NigeriaandUganda,butwomenmadeuponlyasmallportionofthisworkforce(seeChapter1).

Globally,theoff-gridsolarsectorhasthepotentialtoemployuptohalfamillionpeopleby2030,rivallingtheemploymentnumbersofthefossilfuelindustry(PowerforAll,2022).Thesectorhastheabilitytocreatelocaljobs,promoteskilldevelopmentandsupportsustainabledevelopment.Thispotentialalsocontributescrucialargumentsinfavourofthesector’spromotionamonggovernmentsandfinancingbodies,includingdevelopmentagenciesandphilanthropiesthataimtopromotesustainablelivelihoods(IEAetal.,2024).Therightpolicyframeworkscanalsohelpfosterthecreationofasocialecosystemthatexpandstechnologysolutionstailoredtothespecificneedsofcommunities,includingwomenandchildren(IRENA,2019a;IRENAandILO,2023).

TheimportanceofwomenintheDREworkforce

Womenhavemadetremendousgainsinthesmall-scaleandoff-gridsubsectorsthroughemploymentasresearchers,retailers,installersandmaintenanceworkers;asentrepreneursstartingand/orgrowingtheirenterprises;andashouseholdmemberswithimprovedhealthandqualityoflifeforthemselvesandtheirfamilies(NelsonandKuriakose,2017).Despitethisprogress,especiallyinsub-SaharanAfrica,theshareofDREjobsforwomen–includingindecentralisedsolarPV–remainslow.

Someofthereasonsforthisarecountry-andcontext-specific,buttheycanbroadlybesummarisedunderthreedistinctcategories:i)societalconstraints;ii)lackofaccesstoeducationalandprofessionaldevelopment;

9

INTRODUCTION

andiii)othergenderedworkplacebarriers.Femaleentrepreneursfaceadditionalconstraints,includingaccesstofinance.Thisdeficitofwomen’saccesstojobsintheDREsectorexacerbatesexistingskillsshortages,preventingasignificantpartofthepopulationfromcontributingtothesector’sdevelopment,aswellasfrombenefitingfromtheenormous

employment-generatingpotentialofthesector.

?PreetiM/istockcom?PradeepGaurs/shutter

JobcreationintheDREsectorcouldbecomeanimportantdriverofsocio-economicdevelopmentindevelopingcountries,butitwilldosoonlywiththeinclusionofwomen,whomakeuproughlyhalfofthepopulation.Growingevidencedemonstratesthebenefitsofadiverseworkforceforthedeploymentofmodernenergytolast-mileusers,suchasawiderrangeofperspectivesandexperiences,andofincreasedfemaleparticipationinsub-SaharanAfricainparticular(IFC,2022a).Womenoftenshouldermosthouseholdresponsibilities,andthuspossessauniqueunderstandingofenergyneeds,positioningthemtodrivecreativityandinnovationintheDREfield.Additionally,specificallyinthedecentralisedenergyspace,women’sstrongrelationshipswithintheircommunitiespositionthemaseffectivelast-miledistributorsofcleanenergyproducts(UNWomenandUNIDO,2023).Womenarealsocriticaltoscalingupaskilledlocalworkforce,especiallyatthecommunitylevel,todeployDREsolutionsmorebroadly.Recentstudiesrevealashortageoflocalskillsneededtodevelop,install,operateandserviceDREsolutionsforhouseholdsandbusinesses,whichcouldturnintoamajorhurdletodeployment,especiallyindevelopingcountries(CEEW,2023;PowerforAll,2019,2022).ThismeansincreasingtheshareofwomenintheDREworkforceisessentialforunlockingthesector’suntappedpotential,bridgingexistinggaps,andpromotinggreatereconomicinclusionandwell-being.

Aboutthisreport

ThisreportexploresthestatusoffemaleemploymentintheDREsector,withafocusondecentralisedsolarPV.Itshedslightonthemainbarriersthatwomenfaceinthesector’sworkforceandhowtobypassthembasedonfivecountrycasestudies:Ethiopia,India,Kenya,NigeriaandUganda.Withthataim,itpresentsdatafromanexhaustiveliteraturereview,focusgroupdiscussions(FGDs)andexpertinterviewsconductedinthefivecountries.Italsoprovidesrecommendationsforhowtomakethesectormoreinclusive,sothatgendernolongerdetermineswhethertalententerstheoff-gridsector,ornot.

Thereportproceedsasfollows:Chapter1introducesemploymentindecentralisedsolarPV,providingfiguresforthefocuscountries,alongwithanoverviewofthevarioustypesofjobsinthesector.Thechapteralsodescribesfemaleemploymentinthesector,anddiscussesfemaleentrepreneurshipinthefocuscountries.Chapter2showcasesthemainbarrierspreventingwomenfromjoiningtheDREworkforceandpresentsexamplesofwomenwhohavesucceededinentrepreneurship.Chapter3presentsmeasuresandpoliciesthatcanhelpbringmoreopportunitiesforwomeninthesectorandbeyond,andChapter4offersthewayforwardandconcludes.

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV

Jobs,

therole

inthe

workforce

skillsand

1ofwomen

?andresr/

11

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:JOBS,SKILLSANDTHEROLEOFWOMENINTHEWORKFORCE

01

E

mploymentisacriticalindicatorofeconomicevolutionandsectoralperformance.Itisalsoamajorindicatoroftheindirectwelfarebenefits

ofindustries,includingintheDREsector.Aseconomiesdevelop,shiftsinemploymentpatternsreflectbroaderchangesinindustrialcomposition,technologicaladvancementsandsocietalpriorities.

IRENAanalysishasovertheyearsdemonstratedthattherenewableenergysectorisasignificantsourceofemploymentglobally,spanningawiderangeofactivitiesandskilllevels(IRENA,2019b,2020;IRENAandILO,2021,2022,2023,2024).In2023,employmentintherenewableenergysectorreached16.2millionpeopleworldwide,anincreaseof18%relativeto2022,ofwhich7.1millionwerefromsolarPValone(IRENAetal.,2024).TheInternationalEnergyAgency(IEA)projectsthatmorethanhalfoftheunderservedpopulationworldwide(55%)isexpectedtogainaccessthroughoff-gridanddecentralisedenergytechnologies(IEA,2022).Jobcreationinthesectorwillthereforecontinuegrowingoverthecomingyearsaseffortsintensifytoclosetheenergyaccessgap.

DecentralisedsolarPVisthemostwidespreadtechnologyusedforoff-gridenergygeneration,andithasgrownrapidlyinrecentyearsbothinandbeyondthisstudy’sfocuscountries(seeBox1).Itsdeploymenthaslargesocio-economicbenefitsforlocaleconomies,beyondprovidingaccesstomodernenergytounderservedcommunities.Unlikeconventionalelectricitysupplythroughalarge-scale,centralisedutility,DREbringselectricitygenerationanddistributionclosetothefinalconsumer–oftentotheirownbackyardorrooftop–thereforealsogeneratinglocaljobsandbusinessopportunitiesinremoteandruralareas.Siteplanningandprocurement,licensing,manufacturing/assembly,installation,operationandmaintenanceoftheassetsandsalesarealllabour-intensiveactivitiesthatrequireaskilled,localworkforceabletoplan,sell,installandmaintainthetechnology.3

DecentralisedsolarPVisthe

mostwidespreadtechnologyusedforoffgridenergygeneration.

DREgenerates

jobsandbusinessopportunitiesin

remoteandruralareas.

3ThisstudyencompassesfourprimarytechnologycategorieswithintheDREsector.Picosolarappliancesrepresentsmall-scale

solardevicestypicallygeneratinglessthan10watts(W),commonlyusedtopowerafewlightbulbsoraphone-chargingstation.

Solarhomesystems(SHSs)arecapableofgeneratingupto100W,enablingtheoperationofbasichouseholdappliancessuchas

televisionsandrefrigerators.Commercialandindustrialsystemsrangefrom100Wtomultiplekilowatts(kW),servingstand-aloneconfigurationsforcommercialorindustrialapplications.Mini-gridsystems,larger-scalesystemsrangingfrom1kWto10megawatts(MW),aredesignedtoprovideelectricitytoentirecommunitiesorclustersofbuildings,ofteninoff-gridorremoteareas.These

categoriescollectivelyillustratethediverseapplicationsandscalabilityofsolaroff-gridtechnologiesinmeetingenergyneedsacrossvarioussettingsandscales.

12

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

Box1.ThestatusofdecentralisedsolarPVinthis

study’sfocuscountries

Thisstudyfocusesonfivecountries–Ethiopia,India,Kenya,NigeriaandUganda–eachforaparticularreason.Indiaisconsideredthebiggestdeployerofdecentralisedrenewablesglobally,owingtoitslargepopulationandelectrificationneeds,aswellasitssuccessfulprivatesector-ledinnovativebusinessmodelsandsupportfromthenationalgovernmentthroughenablingpoliciesforlarge-scaleimplementation.

Insub-SaharanAfrica,Kenyahasamongthelargestinstalledgenerationcapacityofoff-gridsolarPV(IRENA,2024),thankstotherelativelysuccessfuldeploymentofSHSsandpicosolarinmanyperi-urbanandruralareas(GOGLA,2024)thatisreflectedinthefastgrowthofinstalledgenerationcapacity(Figure1).Anewgovernmentinitiative,theKenyaOff-GridSolarAccessProject(KOSAP),aimstoachieveruralelectrificationtargetsbydeployinghundredsofsolarmini-grids.4

Nigeria,too,hasbeenmakingsignificantprogressindecentralisedenergydeploymentsince2018,whentheRuralElectrificationAgencysecuredaUSD350million(UnitedStatesdollar)loanfromtheWorldBanktodeploysolarmini-gridsinruralareas(NanaandDioha,2024).WhilesolarPVhashistoricallyfacedsignificantcompetitionfromthelargeandwell-establishedoilandgassector,subsidiesforfossilfuelsubsidieswereendedin2023.Inthewakeofthiscessation,dieselandgasolinepricesspiked,therebyenhancingtheattractivenessofsolartechnologies.

?IjehWilliams/i

TheEthiopianandUgandanmarketsforDREhavegrownoverthepastdecade,butataslowpace(Figure1).InEthiopia,thegrowthoftheDREsectorhasbeenheldbackbytheforeignexchangeshortage.5Thisshortageimpededfirms’abilitytoaccessthenecessaryforeigncurrencytoinvest6orrepatriateanyprofits.Inaddition,stringentregulatorybarrierstoentry(suchaslicenses“onlyforEthiopianfirms”)deterforeigninvestors(EnergiseAfricaandPowerforAll,2021).However,withfast-growingdemandforelectricityaswellasambitiouselectrificationtargets,EthiopiapresentssubstantialopportunitiesforthedevelopmentoftheDREsector.

4Targeting14countiesinKenya’snortheasternandcoastalregions,includingTurkana,GarissaandKwale,KOSAPaimstoinstallaquarter-millionstand-aloneSHSsand120mini-gridsby2030(MinistryofEnergyandPetroleumKenya,2024).

5RecentpolicyreformsinEthiopiaincludetheliberalisationoftheforeignexchangemarket,whichcanresultinaneasingofrestrictionsonforeigninvestment.

Consequently,amorefavourableenvironmentforthedevelopmentofthesectorcouldbeexpected.

6E.g.byimportingmaterialsforassemblyorfinalproductsforretail.

13

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:JOBS,SKILLSANDTHEROLEOFWOMENINTHEWORKFORCE

01

Finally,Ugandahasabundantsolarandhydroresources;infact,thecountryhasexcessgenerationcapacity.However,highupfrontcapitalexpenditures,alackoffinancingoptions,lengthyandcomplexapplicationsforlicensesandpermits,andashortageoflocalexpertisetooperateDREtechnologiesaresomeofthemainbarrierstothegrowthofthesector.

Figure1.Totalinstalledoff-gridsolarPVelectricitygenerationcapacitybycountry,2000-2023(MW)

OfgridSolarCapacity(MW/GWh)

2250

100

0

200020052010201520202023200020052010201520202023

Ethiopia

Uganda

Nigeria

India

Kenya

2000

1000

1500

1250

1750

500

250

750

100

120

40

60

80

20

0

Source:(IRENA,2024)

14

DECENTRALISEDSOLARPV:AGENDERPERSPECTIVE

DecentralisedsolarPVjobsandskills

EmploymentinDRE,andindecentralisedsolarPV,hasincreasedconsiderablyovertime.Thisisespeciallythecaseincountrieswithlargeexistingenergyaccessdeficits,asthesectorgainsrecognitionfromgovernmentsanddonorsforitsindispensabilityinachievingambitiouselectrificationtargets.

Globally,anestimated116millionpeoplelivedinahouseholdwithimprovedaccesstoenergythroughdecentralisedkitssoldbyGOGLA(globalassociationfortheoff-gridsolarenergyindustry)affiliatesalonein2023,5.9millionpeopleundertookmoreeconomicactivityasaresultofusingoff-gridsolarenergykitsand3millionpeopleusedSHSstosupportanenterprise(GOGLA,2023a).

Box2.LabourrequirementsperMWinlarge-vs.small-

scaledecentralisedsolarPV

?DimpleBhati/i

InPVtechnology,whenitcomestodirectjobgeneration,thereisaconsiderabledifferencebetweensmall-andlarge-scalefacilities.Forlarge-scalesolarfarms,whicharedesignedtobeconnectedtothegrid,extensiveworkisnecessarytopreparetheland,transportandconnectallthemodulesandinverters,carefullydesign,andstudytheproductionandefficiencyofthefarm.However,asautomatisationistakingover,