Solar electricity development and policy support in Ghana

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 792–800

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Solar electricity development and policy support in Ghana Divine Atsu n, Emmanuel Okoh Agyemang, Stephen A.K. Tsike Energy Systems Engineering Department, Koforidua Polytechnic, P.O. Box KF 981, Koforidua, Ghana

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 5 August 2014 Received in revised form 23 May 2015 Accepted 17 September 2015

Limited fossil resources, the continuous increment in fuel prices and severe environmental problems require new sustainable electricity generation options, which utilize renewable energies. Solar photovoltaic generation is a proven renewable energy technology and has the potential to become costeffective in the future, for it produces electricity from the solar radiation. In Ghana, the electricity demand is rapidly increasing at a rate of 10% annually. In the attempt to change the conventional energy intensive economical development and its negative impact on the environment, the government has begun to support the development of the solar photovoltaic technology strongly. In this paper, the state of solar photovoltaic, the challenges facing the industry, the potential of the technology, the policies and strategies to promote development of the technology have been presented. & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ghana Electricity Renewable Development Policy

Contents 1. 2.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ghana's renewable energy policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1. Key challenges to be addressed by the policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2. Renewable Energy Act of Ghana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3. Policy directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Overview of solar PV technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Electricity generation in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. History and development of solar electricity in Ghana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1. Role of development partners in solar PV electrification in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2. Solar electrification and rural poverty reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3. Solar companies in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Solar resource situation in Ghana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Challenges of solar PV technology dissemination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1. Lack of coordination in donor funded and government interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2. Nonexistence of market push strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3. Lack of awareness, training and credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4. User perception and attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5. High installation and maintenance cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Prospects of the photovoltaic industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Pathways into the future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1. Policy shift towards energy provision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2. Guaranteed financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3. Ensuring energy security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

n

Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 233 241 463 736. E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Atsu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.09.031 1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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1. Introduction

2. Ghana's renewable energy policy

More than 1.64 billion people in the world lack access to electricity, of which approximately 80% live in rural Asia and Africa. Less than 40% of the African population have access to electricity [1]. The electrification level in rural areas in Africa is about 51%, compared to 90% in urban areas, with the majority of the unelectrified areas located in rural and peri-urban areas where access to grid is financially unviable [2]. As the demand for energy continues to increase due to increasing population and economic growth, one of the world's greatest challenges will be how to meet the rising energy demand [3]. With the continues situation of increasing energy demand, unstable energy prices and reinforcement of counter measures for global warming, renewable energy sources have taken the spot light and have been widely exploited and developed in recent years [4]. Currently, the energy challenge ahead of human kind is to replace the fossil fuel with renewable energy sources while keeping pace with the worldwide increasing thirst for energy because of increasing population and rising demand from developing countries. This challenge has to be answered with a low-cost solution using abundantly available raw materials. The sun is an obvious source of clean and cheap energy, already used by nature to sustain almost all life on earth. Consequently, harnessing the power of the sun with photovoltaic technologies appears to be a reasonable large scale answer to the energy challenge [5]. The most abundant form of energy is solar energy. The greatest amount of solar energy is found in two broad bands around the earth between 15° and 35° North and South parallels. In most favorable regions between these parallels there is a minimum irradiation of 5 kW h/m2/day. These regions are on the equatorial side of the world’s arid deserts. These have less than 25 cm of rain in a year. In some countries, in those regions, more than twothirds of the area is arid and there is over 3000 h of sunshine per year, over 90% of which comes as direct radiation. These areas are particularly well suited for applied solar energy. The next most favorable region for the purpose of solar energy application is in the equatorial belt between 15° North and 15° South parallels (Ghana lies between these areas). There, the humidity is high, cloud cover is frequent, and the proportion of scattered radiation is high. There are about 2500 h of sunshine per year with very little seasonal variation. Minimum irradiation ranges from 3–5 kW h/m2/day throughout the year [6]. Ghana's location in this region makes it natural that the application of solar energy should be given priority. The dependency on hydro energy and fossil based fuels for electricity generation has been far too long and the time has come to make use of the solar resource potential of the country [7]. To foster economic growth as well as improve quality of life of families, the Government of Ghana (GoG) recognizes the need to diversify the national energy mix to take account of renewables such as hydro, wind, solar, etc. The national energy policy of Ghana seeks to provide universal access to electricity by the year 2020. The policy aims at energy diversification and at increasing the share of renewable energy component to 10% of the national energy mix by 2020, however at the moment less than 1% of Ghana's electricity comes from renewable energy sources such as solar and biomass [8]. Hence the development of the renewable energy resource of the country, including solar, is therefore a key policy objective of the government. In the light of this, the paper presents the state of Solar Photovoltaic in the country and the strategies and policy instruments in support of the development and the dissemination of the technology.

In order to promote economic growth and reduce poverty, the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Commission in January 2009, set objectives of increasing power generation capacity from 1810 MW (MW) to 5000 MW by 2015, and also make electricity accessible to every part of the country by 2020. To meet these goals, the Ministry set to work on enhancing the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity throughout the country [9]. The main policy issues in the renewable energy sub-sector include the low level of application of new renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, and bio fuels) in the national energy mix and the over dependence and inefficient utilization of woodfuel resources [10]. The policy goals of the renewable energy subsector are to achieve 10% contribution of modern renewables (excluding large hydro and woodfuels) in the electricity generation mix by 2020, reduce the demand on woodfuels from 72% to 50% by 2020, promote development and use of other biomass technologies including biogas, biofuels, gasification and waste-to-energy. Currently solar and wind energy systems are exempted from both import and value added tax (VAT). However components for use with solar and wind generation systems benefit from preferential import duty of 5% 2.1. Key challenges to be addressed by the policy There are number of challenges facing the energy sector in Ghana in general and the slow adoption and expansion of solar energy sources in particular. The increasing demand for energy for industrial, commercial and domestic sectors of the economy due to the rapid expansion of the economy coupled with growing population. This increasing demand has not been matched with a corresponding rate of expansion of the conventional energy sources The traditional dependence on fuelwood, for example, means that the risk of fundamental imbalance between energy production and indigenous resources has become more imminent for all the major energy forms. The over reliance on energy imports to meet local shortfalls of conventional fuels, poses serious threat to the country's supply security, making it vulnerable to external pressures. Another important underlying factor for the promulgation of the energy policy is the high levels of end-use inefficiency culminating in waste of final energy forms, coupled with inefficient pricing of energy services resulting in poor financial positions of the energy providers, threatening the country's growth. Solar energy, which is relatively abundant, is barely exploited to supplement the traditional energy sources [9]. 2.2. Renewable Energy Act of Ghana In November 2011, the Parliament of Ghana passed into law The Renewable Energy Act (Act 832). The Energy Commission is a statutory body established under Act 832 with the mandate to regulate and license all activities in the Renewable Energy sub-sector. The Act is intended to promote the development and utilization of renewable energy sources for electricity generation. It provides the framework for Government support for electricity generation and supply of electricity from renewable energy sources as well as create the enabling environment to attract investment into renewable energy sub-sector. The Act aims at encouraging businesses, households and communities to adopt renewable energy technologies and also increase their use in their energy mix. Renewable energy use is expected to help diversify electricity supply sources and thereby safeguard energy security; and improve access to electricity for all categories of users. It will also lead to building indigenous capacity in technology for

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renewable energy sources. The Act has the following components: the feed-in-tariff scheme (Table 4), the renewable energy purchase obligations, establishment of an energy fund and to provide incentives as strategies to promote Renewable Energy Technologies [11]. 2.3. Policy directions The policy focuses on improving the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy technologies, the creation of a favorable regulatory and fiscal regimes to support indigenous research and development to reduce the cost of renewable energy technologies; and support the use of decentralized off-grid alternative technologies (such as solar PV and wind) where they are competitive with conventional electricity supply [12].

3. Overview of solar PV technologies Photovoltaic conversion is the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity without any heat engine to interfere. PV devices are simple and rugged in design requiring little maintenance and their biggest advantage being their construction as stand-alone systems to give outputs from microwatts to megawatts. Hence they are used for power generation, water pumping, remote buildings, solar home systems, communications, satellites and space vehicles, reverse osmosis plants, and for even megawatt scale power plants. With such a vast array of applications, the demand for PV systems is increasing ever [13,14]. The solar cell is the basic building block of the PV technology. Solar cells are categorized into two main groups: wafer type (single crystalline or multicrystalline) and thin film (a-Si, Cd–Te and CIGS). The former are made from wafers cut from a silicon ingot, and the latter are made by depositing silicon directly onto a substrate such as glass or steel. Wafer-type solar cells dominated 95% of commercial PV market while the remaining 5% were mainly PV silicon thin-film solar cells in 2007 [15]. There are three major conventional solar PV thin film silicon materials, namely, amorphous silicon (a-Si), polycrystalline (Cd– Te), and polycrystalline CuIn(Ga)Se2 (CIGS) emerging as significant players in solar technology. The potential reduction of manufacturing costs, low material and energy consumption accelerate the development of thin-film silicon PV solar cell [16]. However more, than 90% of the solar cells currently made worldwide consist of wafer-based silicon cells. Another important family of solar cells is based on thin-films, which are approximately 1–2 mm thick and therefore require significantly less active, semi conducting material. Thin-film solar cells can be manufactured at lower cost in

large production quantities; hence their market share will likely increase in the future [17]. According to [17], the two main types of PV systems are the grid connected (on-grid) and autonomous (off-grid) systems, with more than 90% of PV systems worldwide implemented as grid connected systems. The advantages and disadvantages of PVs have been presented in Table 1. PV technology is expected to be a leading technology to solve the issues concerning the energy and the global environment [18]. The present PV market is growing at the very high rate of 35–40% per year, and world PV production was 10.66 GW in 2009. This became possible owing to technology cost reduction and market development, reflecting the increasing awareness of the versatility, reliability, and economy of PV electric supply systems [19]. Major market segments served by this industry comprise consumer applications, remote industrial systems, developing countries, and grid-connected systems. Of particular interest is the strong differential growth rate in rural applications, which now accounts for nearly half of the total PV market worldwide. The second largest market is industrial applications [20]. At the present, over 80% of the world PV industry is based on c-Si (crystalline Si, or c-Si, solar cells with efficiency of 6–10%) and pc-Si (polycrystalline Si) wafer technologies. The cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology is growing sufficiently fast, while thin-film copper– indium–gallium–selenide (CIGS), and a-Si-based PV production is still in the beginning stages, despite the remarkable results of research and development many years ago. For most of the leading technologies, the efficiency is already adequate, and emphasis should be on developing cost effective manufacturing technologies that can significantly lower the module production cost [21].

4. Electricity generation in Ghana Ghana is relatively endowed with a variety of energy resources including biomass, hydrocarbons, hydropower, solar and wind. It also has the capacity to produce modern bio-fuels. The vision of the energy sector is to develop an “Energy Economy” aimed at a secure and reliable supply of high quality energy services for all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The sector also aims at becoming a net exporter of electric power by 2015 [22]. Electricity generation in Ghana is partly undertaken by the state-owned Volta River Authority (VRA), which operates the Akosombo Hydro Power Plant, Kpong Hydro Power Station, the Takoradi Thermal Power Company (TAPCO) located at Aboadze and the Tema Thermal Power Stations (TTPS). VRA is also a minority joint venture partner with TAQA, a private-sector company which owns and operates the Takoradi

Table 1 Advantages and disadvantages of photovoltaics. No. Advantages 1 2 3 4

5 6 7

8 9 10 11

Can be rapidly installed at nearly all points of use Can be integrated into new or existing building structures Fuel source is vast, widely accessible and essentially infinite

Disadvantages

High installation costs Lack of economical efficient energy and storage PV cells use rare elements that might be subject to increases in cost and restrictions in supply Minimal negative environmental impact by virtue of reduced air pollution and Solar cells do not generate electricity at night, and in places with frequent and reduced emission of greenhouse gases extensive cloud cover, generation fluctuates and remain unpredictable during the day Low operating cost (does not require fuel) Fuel source is diffuse (sunlight is a relatively low density energy) Minimal labor requirement Require a large surface area for small amounts of energy generation – Ambient temperature operation (no-high temperature corrosion or safety issues); high reliability of solar modules (manufacturers guarantee over 30 years) No moving part (no wear): theoretically everlasting – Stable and independent power source – Protection against volatile electricity prices – Relatively low operating and maintenance cost –

D. Atsu et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 792–800

International Power Company (TICO) thermal power plant also located at Aboadze. As at April 2013, the installed capacity of hydro generation was 1310 MW whilst the installed thermal generation capacity was 1168 MW as indicated in Table 2. The Bui Power Authority (BPA), which is also state-owned, is responsible for the operation Bui Hydro Power Plant. Also some Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have been licensed to build, own and operate power plants. The transmission network is owned and operated by the Ghana Grid Company, a state-owned entity. The distribution of electricity is done by three main utilities and includes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and the Enclave Power Company Limited. The Electricity Company of Ghana distributes power to the southern part of the country, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company is in charge of the northern sector and Enclave Power distributes power to the Tema Free Zone Enclave. Currently, the electricity distribution infrastructure is extensive providing access to over 72% of the population [23]. Electricity demand which is currently 1400 MW is growing at about 10% per annum. The existing power plants are unable to attain full generation capacity as a result of limitations in fuel supply owing to rising fuel prices and uncertainty in rainfall and water inflows into the hydroelectric power facilities. In terms of Universal Access to Electricity, Ghana has set itself the target of achieving Universal Access to Electricity by the year 2020, in line with its National Energy Strategy of 2010. As at 2008, 66.7% national electrification coverage had been achieved covering 16 million people, with the remaining 33.3% of 8 million people yet to be connected. As at 2011, the national coverage had risen to 72% [23]. The Government of Ghana is pursuing the policy to extend the reach of electricity supply to all parts of the country by the year 2020 [8]. The target is to increase the access rate to 80% by the year 2015.

Table 2 Electricity generation capacity as at April, 2013 [24]. Plant

Fuel type

Capacity (MW) Installed Dependable

Hydro generation Akosombo Kpong Bui Sub-total Thermal generation Takoradi Power Company (TAPCO) Takoradi International Company (TICO) SunonAsogli Power (Ghana) Limited Tema Thermal 1 Power Plant (TT1PP) Tema Thermal 2 Power Plant (TT2PP) Takoradi 3 (T3) CENIT Energy Ltd (CEL) Sub-total Solar power plants VRA Solar grid-inter-tied Sub-total Total

Water Water Water

1020 160 130 1310

960 140 100 1200

330

300

220

200

200

180

Light crude oil /diesel/natural gas Diesel/natural gas

110

100

50

45

Light crude oil/diesel/natural gas Light crude oil/natural gas

132

120

126

120

1168

1065

2 2 2480

2 2 2267

Light crude oil/ diesel/natural gas Light crude oil/diesel/natural gas Natural gas

795

5. History and development of solar electricity in Ghana The development of national policies relating to solar electricity in Ghana can be traced to 1983 when the National Energy Board (NEB) was established, though public solar PV electrification projects were first implemented in the early 1990s. By 1991 there were about 335 solar PV installations in Ghana with total estimated power of about 160 kW [24]. As part of alternatives to grid-electricity supply in remote rural areas, Ghana increased the use of renewable energies such as solar, wind, biomass and biogas [25]. In Ghana's solar PV electrification programme, the stakeholders identified include community beneficiaries, government (policy formulation/regulatory framework), private-sector practitioners, research and training institutions, financial institutions and banks, power utility sector agencies and development partners [26]. 5.1. Role of development partners in solar PV electrification in Ghana Over the years, development agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF), World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Spanish Government have supported the promotion of solar PV electrification in Ghana. The involvement of development partners or donor agencies in the promotion of solar PV electrification within the framework of the National Electrification Scheme (NES) of Ghana was targeted at the expansion of rural electrification [27]. Apart from a few privately owned solar home systems that were mostly installed in the urban areas of the country as back-up systems, public solar PV rural electrification in Ghana have been implemented in partnership with international donors. Development cooperation in this regard has been focused on Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the form of technical and capital assistance. These have been used as a means of increasing access to energy services for the rural and peri-urban poor. Table 3 shows the extent of donor cooperation in solar PV rural electrification projects in Ghana Table 4. In Ghana, donor cooperation in solar PV projects started in the 1990s and has been increasing thereafter. Since 2009, a total of 9536 solar systems have been installed in remote off-grid communities in over 70 districts nationwide with support from JICA, the World Bank and the Spanish Government. Under the Elecnor SA project, more than 1300 solar systems have been installed in public institutions such as security outposts (Police, Customs and Immigration), Clinics, Schools and public social gathering places. Nearly 200 kWp of solar systems generating more than 26 MW h of energy storage in batteries have been installed under the Elecnor SA project. The installation of a 2 MW grid-connected solar farm at Navrongo in the Upper East Region and a 700 kW grid connected solar system has been completed by the Volta River Authority and the Noguchi Memorial Institute of the University of Ghana respectively [28]. The installed solar systems include: Solar Home System for basic household lighting, radio and TV operation; Solar Hospital System for vaccine refrigeration and lighting; Solar School System for classroom lighting and television for distance education; Solar Streetlight System for lighting general meeting points, such as markets, lorry stations, water supply points and important busy paths/roads requiring visibility; Solar Water Pumping System for the provision of drinking water and for irrigation; Solar Battery Charging System for charging automotive batteries for operating TV, radios, mobile phones and lantern in rural communities; Solar System for communication and centralized solar system for providing Alternating Current (AC) power into the grid; and Solar Water Heating Systems [23].

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Table 3 Donor cooperation in solar PV rural electrification in Ghana [30]. Donor agency

Project client

Objective(s) of project

1. CIDA, Canada

University of Regina/Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Renewable Energy Project. Non-formal Education Unit (NFED), Ministry of Education & Sports, Ghana. KNUST Solar Pump Project

To strengthen KNUST’s capacity to respond to national development 1992–1999 priorities in renewables for sustainable development of rural areas in Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti and Eastern regions. Off-grid solar PV for adult literacy programmes in rural communities. 1992–2005

2.World Bank/GoG 3. GTZ, Germany 4. Spanish Government, Spain 5. DANIDA, Denmark

6. UNDP/GEF 7. JICA, Japan

8. UNDP/UNEP/GT/KITE 9. Elecnor Foundation of Spain

To construct, test and evaluate the performance of solar pumps for rural irrigation. Ministry of Energy, Spanish Solar PV Electrification, Off-grid solar electrification of 10 rural communities in northern Ghana Volta to identify issues for a comprehensive policy on solar PV into the national energy scheme. 1. Ministry of Energy, Renewable Energy Develop- 1. Off-grid solar electrification of 14 rural communities: Eastern, ment Project (REDP). Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Upper-West, Northern regions. 2. To equip 2. Ministry of Health, Solar Refrigeration Project. rural health sectors with reliable energy service technology. Renewable Energy Services Project (RESPRO) Off-grid solar electrification of 13 rural communities in Northern Ghana Ministry of Energy Policy, planning and formulation of a master plan for rural electrification using renewables in northern Ghana, where poverty is widespread. E-commerce and Renewable Energy (e-CARE) To accelerate access to Renewable Energy-enabled ICT services in Project rural and peri-urban communities in Ghana. Ministry of energy To provide Solar Back-up Systems to various health facilities around the country

Table 4 Approved rates for Renewable Energy Technologies [51]. Renewable Energy Technology

FIT Effective 1st September 2013 (GHp/kW h)

Wind Solar Hydror 10 MW Hydro (10 MW› r 100 MW) Landfill gas Sewage gas Biomass

32.1085 40.2100 26.5574 22.7436 31.4696 31.4696 31.4696

The approved rates are based on Ghana Cedi/US Dollar Exchange Rate of GH ¢ 19,968 to US $10,000 being the Average Selling Rate as at 27th August, 2013 obtained from the association of Bankers.

Duration

1997–2000 1998–2003

1999–2002

1999–2003 2004–2011

Ongoing since 2003 Ongoing since 2011

about 64 registered solar companies in Ghana as at the end of 2013 [31].

6. Solar resource situation in Ghana In Ghana, the average duration of sunshine varies from a minimum of 5.3 h per day in the cloudy semi-deciduous forest region to 7.7 h per day in the dry savannah regions. The monthly average solar irradiation in different parts of the country ranges between 4.4 and 5.6 kW h/m2/day. Fig. 1 shows the solar resource potential for Ghana [32].

5.2. Solar electrification and rural poverty reduction

7. Challenges of solar PV technology dissemination

To realize the energy vision of Ghana, solar energy had been identified among the key energy sources for long-term development and sustainability of electricity supply to increase access, particularly for rural poverty reduction. And this objective is addressed by the Strategic National Energy Plan (SNEP). Although there was little credit available for purchasing solar PV systems privately, the Government of Ghana took steps including fee-for-service approach to encourage the use of PV systems in off-grid rural areas [29]. Under the National Electrification Programme (NEP), the Off-Grid Solar Electrification Projects were administered by the then Ministry of Mines and Energy (MOME) with internally generated financial resources. Due to the difficulty in generating continuous financial resources, the projects could not effectively increase local manufacturing capacity in the design and installation of PV equipment and components [30].

Energy is the vehicle that drives sustainable development of communities and even though energy is not included as one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is widely accepted that access to clean, affordable and appropriate energy services will be a crucial factor in achieving the set target of the MDGs [33]. PV systems are compared on the life cycle cost basis with many other types of decentralized as well as centralized systems for rural electrification to understand their economic competitiveness. However, results depend on local costs of components and therefore vary across regions and countries, making it difficult to generalize them. Most of the challenges encountered in the Solar Home Systems implemented from multi-countries in Ghana are mainly those associated with sustainable, replicability, development of regulatory mechanisms for energy subsidies and incentives and integration of rural electrification policy with the dissemination of Solar Home Systems.

5.3. Solar companies in Ghana

7.1. Lack of coordination in donor funded and government interventions

Solar energy companies have been in existence since 1999 but the numbers were but a few until about 2007 the period in which Ghana was challenged with power crises and the issue of alternative energy sources begun to arise. Notwithstanding the numbers, they are all into either of the following activities: installation, training of installers, importation and selling of components. So far there is no company in Ghana which is into the manufacturing of components. According to records available at the Registrar General's department there are

While donor-driven projects have brought about benefits to the users and have stimulated technology transfer and capacity building initiatives, such projects do have a tendency to disrupt market prices for PV systems. Most donor agents that have implemented most of these projects only focussed on the period of the project and after the project period everything is left in the state of disarray. A sustainable energy development programme requires a multi-pronged

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Fig. 1. Solar resource potential of Ghana [32].

intervention that is well co-ordinated with a clear view of engagements beyond the donor commitment period [34]. The experience from the south pacific has attributed institutional aspects as well as technical ones such as the lack of policy and government support, inappropriate design, use of unreliable components, improper installation and poor maintenance as main reasons for failure of PV systems dissemination. Maintenance of PV systems by user is rarely successful as most systems fail mainly because of the inability to collect fees/ charges to pay for maintenance purposes [35].

7.2. Nonexistence of market push strategies According to authors [36] research and development strategy is recommended to market push strategy for developing PV markets for rural electrification in developing countries. Lack of capacity building, financial infrastructure and local community empowerment are some of the challenges in sustaining rural electrification programmes based on PV [37]. The development of local free market seems more successful than donor-based design features

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in program dissemination. Market development of PV based on product features rather than subsidies has been recommended strongly [38,40]. Policy problems identified the aversion to rural credit due to World Bank loans, the lack of market infrastructure and support to entrepreneurs as key challenges. The availability of rural credit, transparency in grid extension, long term loan and business advisory services were recognized as stimulants for the growth of a successful PV market [39–42]. 7.3. Lack of awareness, training and credit Unavailability of skilled technicians required for promotion and installation of systems in the country has been a barrier for sustainable development solar electricity technology in Ghana. High cost of selling (marketing, delivery and maintenance) of Solar Home Systems (SHS) is one of the challenges in disseminating PV systems [43]. Credit risk has been found to be another serious concern of both financiers and dealers of PV systems, hence credit sales of PV systems are found to be very challenging [44]. Lack of awareness among prospective users, limited outlets for procurement, unavailability of different models catering for varying needs among various users, high price and limited hours of usage for solar lighting systems are some of the challenges faced in the disseminating of PV as cited by authors [45]. Lack of investments and financing, high transaction costs, subsidies to conventional fuels and lack of awareness about PV systems at all levels were found to be market barriers for PV in least developed countries [46]. Information meetings, technical support meetings and social networks are identified as having positive effect on the adoption of PV [47]. This has been lacking in the country in the past decades. The reason for the implementation of most of the SHS projects by the implementers are specified in very broad terms of administrative criteria, such as providing access to electricity to rural people, rather than in a more specific outcomes such as increasing users' capacities to generate income or increasing users' opportunities for studying. A lack of government policies that support project expansion as well as inadequate management capacity is another significant explanation for the limited success of some of the programs [48]. 7.4. User perception and attitude Perspectives of Users of Technology – user attitude is one of the more critical challenges for the adoption of PV as compared to cost, efficiency, or other purely technological issues. According to authors [49] the user's attitude determines the success or the failure of the program and it is important that the user understands the characteristics of PV power and play a role in the operation and maintenance of the system. The projects to have seen some success are the systems to have been designed and installed according to the user’s needs and ability to pay and involved in the dissemination process. Presence of a finance scheme has also acted as a catalyst for the dissemination of the technology. Benefits of demonstration of PV systems for raising awareness and also facilitation of finance for the purchase of PV systems by the end-users-developing countries have also been highlighted [49]. Importance of user training and stakeholder participation has been highlighted on the basis of experience with isolated rural PV systems [38,40]. PV markets can be boosted by providing fiscal and financial incentives such as tax free dividend, abolition of excise duty, etc. to industrialists and investors as specifically studied for PV in Nigeria [48]. The experience of the implementation of PV systems in Greece emphasized the need for a simplified licensing procedure and a better coordination through institutions and environmental

approval [50]. Many projects have been initiated to test and deploy Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in Ghana over the years. Most of these projects have not led to commercialization of the technologies, mainly because this was not the primary objective, and also because the institutions responsible for developing the projects did not involve the private sector in the process. As historical traders, Ghanaian entrepreneurs are quite efficient at making use of a commercial opportunity when they see one. This positive attribute has hardly been exploited in the projects that have been developed. Donor projects are usually not necessarily aligned to national interests, and can derail commercial efforts of entrepreneurs. When equipment such as solar PV components is donated, it often serves more as a means to get rid of surplus materials in the donor country or generate employment for the donor country in times of economic downturn [19]. Development projects that do not take into account the aftereffects of their impact end up doing harm to commercialization of renewable energy technologies. In Ghana, although many recent projects attempt to include entrepreneurial initiatives, there are still many that focus only on the immediate impact of the project objectives. A vacuum is created when the project winds up, leading to abandoned equipment, lack of ownership, and opportunities that are not viable for entrepreneurs [27]. In many cases the assistance would have been offered at highly subsidized rates, and an entrepreneur who attempts to charge economic rates for the same service is bound to fail. A successful strategy for dissemination of PV must jointly be based upon an increasing market demand to drive cost reduction of key components and to computerize upon PV systems flexible characteristics to address unique requirements of downstream [34]. 7.5. High installation and maintenance cost Costs for the replacement of components are often not considered in the setting of the tariffs. Tariffs collected are therefore not adequate to ensure replacement of components when due.The target areas where Solar PV can contribute to sustainable development are places where the inhabitants could least afford the solar service [26]. No dedicated institution currently exists solely for the development and promotion of RETs in Ghana. Institutions involved in RETs do under take other activities which are considered higher priority. Collection of tariff is labor intensive and expensive considering the dispersed nature of the rural communities and houses in the particular. Collection rate is higher for use in income generating activities such as commercial stores, drinking bars, music shops etc. Very low for seasonal income households such as farmers [8]. Politics in Ghana has also affected negatively the dissemination of Solar systems. Statement like: “No Electrification No Vote” is the common demands from communities without electricity in Ghana especially during election years. Politicians therefore promise electorates grid power in exchange for votes. There is therefore this problem of relocation or abandoning of Solar Home Systems after a short period of installation which comes with an additional cost and if these funds are not realized for the relocation then these systems will be lying fallow without being used whiles other communities need them [24].

8. Prospects of the photovoltaic industry According to the world’s largest solar electricity market, The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) the World PV Market could reach between 10.1 GW and 15.5 GW of new installations in 2010 under the Moderate scenario and the Policy-Driven scenario respectively, compared to 8.2 to 12.7 GW in the previous

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forecast. In the Policy-Driven scenario, the World annual PV market could reach up to 30 GW in 2014 based, of course, on favorable conditions established by policy makers, regulators and the energy sector at large. While the announced world-wide PV production capacity would be sufficient to cover the expected evolution of the market in the coming years, we could nevertheless see some temporary shortages due to high variations in the demand patterns which could occur. Inverters and to some extent crystalline silicon capacities, could be used at a very high rate in the coming months in order to cope with the growing demand. Given all the caution that such forecasts require, we still suggest a strong growth of the PV market and industry in the coming years [51]. The increasing demand in energy puts the fossil fuels in the verge of exhaustion and thereby renewable sources are being seen as the prospective potentials for energy. The solar photovoltaic technology is no exception since vast research is being carried out and a significant improvement in performance has been achieved over the years. Waldau also observed that the photovoltaics is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide and in order to maintain this growth rate, there is the need for further developments with respect to material use and consumption, device design, reliability and production technologies as well as new concepts to increase the overall efficiency arises [51]. Muneer et al. described solar PV electricity as the solution of future energy challenges and the modular approach adopted to meet the year 2025 energy demand of six major cities in India: Chennai, Delhi, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Trivandrum, indicates that the suggested solar hydrogen based energy network has the capability of providing the energy requirements [52]. Feltrin et al. analyzed several photovoltaic technologies, ranging from silicon to thin films, multijunction and solar concentrator systems for terawatt level deployment of the existing solar cells, and for each technology, identified improvements and innovations needed for further scale-up [53]. The available solar resource, governmental support and commitment, private sector involvement in solar PV technology dissemination and the establishment of Renewable Energy Research Institutions will enhance the rapid growth of the solar PV technology in Ghana.

9. Pathways into the future In order to overcome the above barriers and challenges and accelerate the development of solar energy applications in Ghana, there will be the need for favorable policies and strong political will from the government at all levels. 9.1. Policy shift towards energy provision Successful commercialization of solar electricity in Ghana is possible, but the current market, economic, and policy conditions are working hard against it. If success is to be achieved, certain fundamental changes would have to be made, starting with a broad policy shift that will be based on energy provision rather than grid extension, as is the case presently. The new policy would need to take into account the various decentralized sources of energy and afford users the choice of the best energy option for all parts of the country. The current policy regime where individual solar system components are taxed needs to be reviewed and the tax component removed to reduce maintenance cost on solar systems to enhance longevity of installed solar systems. 9.2. Guaranteed financing Government must put in place structures that are needed to guarantee financing for the users and providers of solar electricity.

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This is a good area of intervention for development agencies and individual power producers, where basic objectives such as health improvement, adult education, and economic development can be met. Financial mechanisms can be used to create the enabling environment for rural electrification using solar electricity, instead of extending the grid to areas where it is not economically sustainable. With a level playing field in the policy arena and available financing for solar electricity deployment, it will be possible to engage in the much needed task of educating the market on the benefits of solar electricity and renewable in general, and reducing the public perception that they are overpriced and exotic technologies suitable only for pilot projects. 9.3. Ensuring energy security Issues regarding energy security identified include inadequate maintenance procedures, stagnated growth in power generation capacity and a lack of human capacity development across the sector. Power mix in the country is gradually being dominated by fossil fuel based generating plants. Since the off-grid power needs are enormous in Ghana, stand-alone PV Systems thus constitute a safe, reliable and to a large extent an affordable alternative to the widely spread self-powered generator sets.

10. Conclusion In recent years, the solar industry in Ghana has made great progress but has been met with financial, technological and policy barriers. In order to further promote the development of the industry, government has passed the Renewable energy law (Act 832) to create an enabling environment to attract investment and growth in this sector. However, much needs to be done in the area of high skilled middle level manpower development to encourage the large scale deployment of Stand Alone and Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic systems in Ghana. Government's incentives will be helpful for market growth however; when the market matures the role of government may gradually reduce. The paper would be useful for the solar PV system manufacturers, academicians, researchers, generating members and decision makers.

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