Solar home systems adoption in Sub-Saharan African countries: Household economic and environmental benefits assessment

Abstract

Household benefits of adopting solar home system (SHS) kits were investigated. The assessment considered lighting devices for Tier 0 based on scenarios A to E in comparison with kerosene lamps, candles, and torches in 11 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. To assess the impact of mobile money charges on the SHS kit gross price, the SHS kit acquisition by households was examined based on the cash and pay-as-you-go approaches. The study examined the household energy expenditure for each of the Tier 0 scenarios and the respective savings recorded by acquiring a SHS kit on the two payment approaches as well as the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions avoided by a household. The study results revealed that households across the selected SSA countries would incur an annual energy expenditure in the range of $ 63.28–106.93, with an average of $ 87.31 and record energy expenditure savings of 46.04% and 29.79% for a SHS kit on the cash and pay-as-you-go approaches, respectively. The mobile money charges result in about 0.14–4.69% increment in the kit's gross price. An annual household GHG emissions avoided in the range of 19.51–199.29 kg CO2eq by acquiring a SHS kit was recorded.