Solar

INTRODUCTION

Energy Private Developers (EPD) has currently registered over 40 solar companies who have invested in Solar Home System (SHS) business. SHS kits Capacities available on Rwandan market are those of 12W, 20W, 40W, 50 W, 100W, 120W, 200W and 300W with average price per a kit of 67,678 Rwf.

Rwanda is generally characterized by Savannah climate and its geographical location endows it with sufficient solar radiation intensity approximately equal to 5kWh/m2/day and peak sun hours of approximately 5 hours per day.

Rwanda’s total on-grid installed solar energy is 12.08 MW. Households far away from the planned national grid coverage are encouraged to use standalone solar photovoltaic (PVs) to reduce the cost of access to electricity.

By May 2021, Rwanda’s generation capacity installed is currently 238.052MW. 1,752,345 households have been connected to electricity where 1,278,601 households are on grid and 473,744 households connected to Off-grid mainly solar.

A table showing increment in household connections since 2013

Electricity access through solar

Solar energy is a promising solution to meet the demand for rural households’ electricity services in remote locations. As of May 2021, 16 % of Rwandan households are accessing electricity through off-grid systems, mainly solar. The Energy sector strategic plan underscores the universal access to electricity by 2024 with 48% of the households connected through off-grid power systems.

Around 500,000 new households will be electrified through off-grid solutions and given forecast population increases, 3.72 million households (100%) will have access to electricity through both on-grid and off-grid connections.

Solar electricity access projections to households from 2021 to 2024

Funding programs in solar subsector

In a move to increase Solar Home System (SHS) installations and electrification of households in rural areas of Rwanda, the Renewable Energy Fund (REF) and Rwanda Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project (EAQIP) off-grid component implemented by the Development Bank of Rwanda Plc. have launched a Results-based Financing (RBF) subsidy called “Windows 1,2,3,4 & 5” to address the affordability of off-grid electricity faced by rural households. It was established in 2017 and is still on going up to 30^th September 2023.

The Rwanda Energy Access and Quality Improvement Projects (EAQIP) funds under Window 5 was launched on 2^nd October 2020 will be available until 31^st December 2026. 

Some of the Key Players in the solar sub-sector