Lessons learned from solar sector infrastructure development in Africa and Asia

The development of a viable and sustainable private sector infrastructure is crucial for any market based implementation of renewable energy in rural areas in developing countries. In existing markets like Kenya, a complex and diverse network of intermediary actors take part in the distribution chain between manufacturers and the end-users. In this network, buying decisions are based on a wide variety of criteria; often intangible factors such as trust are more important than price. Starting from these insights, we have developed innovative approaches to solar market development, which have been tested in real market settings in Tanzania and Western China. There appears to be a wide potential for innovative market based interventions to strengthen and accelerate solar market development in a sustainable way. This paper highlights the lessons learnt from our sector infrastructure development work and translates them to the policy level.