Sustainability assessment and implementation design of distributed energy micro-generation for lighting in Western Kenya

The use of traditional fuels such as kerosene for lighting in developing countries have negative health impacts, safety concerns, provide insufficient illumination for tasks such as reading, and are comparatively expensive per unit of light produced. Renewable distributed energy micro-generation technologies have been shown to be a suitable and cost effective alternative. However, the sustainable use of these technologies is often limited due to low financial and technical capability in developing communities. This paper outlines a sustainability assessment used to inform the implementation design of distributed household energy technologies in developing communities. It further can be used to identify areas of low capacity to be systematically addressed in the community through policy and program. A case study is presented in Namawanga, Kenya.