State of photovoltaic home systems in Zimbabwe

A thirty day survey undertaken in six districts of the country to compare the different solar delivery modes implemented within Zimbabwe has revealed that 16% of the systems installed in the country are currently not working. Some 51% of the systems are experiencing problems of one nature or the other. Up to 33% of the batteries used were noted to have been the problem on the system, while 23% of the lights have developed problems. Of the charge controllers used 12% of them were recorded as having experienced problems. Systems installed under the Energy Services Company (ESCO) mode tended to be more sustainable as will be shown in sections that follow.