The rise of solar home systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Examining gender, class, and sustainability

Ojöng, Nathanael

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2021.102011

Cited by 40 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…To review the evidence on this topic, there are some essential principles that are common in the process of writing systematic and critical reviews [47,48]. These reviews aim for comprehensiveness, while reducing bias regarding literature searches [47]; and, they are being increasingly used in the field of energy social science [24,[49][50][51]. The review process pursued the following steps.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Africa is a global leader in terms of adoption of SHSs [21,22], it is very important to conduct a systematic and a critical review with an exclusive focus on the well-being effects of these systems on the continent, as doing so provides a detailed, nuanced, and comprehensive perspective. Researchers have conducted systematic reviews on SHSs in Africa [23,24], but the wellbeing effects of SHS adoption were not the focus of these studies. If claims are made about the contribution of SHSs to improvements in the wellbeing of poor people in particular, it is important to examine whether the evidence supports these claims, and the most appropriate way to do so is by conducting a systematic and a critical review.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review

Ojöng

2022

Sustainability

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Solar home systems are being increasingly used for energy access in Africa, and claims have been made about their ability to enhance human wellbeing. Therefore, this paper systematically and critically assesses the human wellbeing effects of these systems in Africa. According to the systematic review, these small-scale renewable energy systems have positive effects in terms of education, health, safety and security, entertainment, and social connectedness. In the realms of income and firm productivity, the results were mixed, with some studies showing that the adoption of solar home systems contributed to increases in income and firm productivity, and others finding little or no evidence to support this view. However, a critical review indicates that some of the positive effects are often based on self-reporting, and rigorous evidence regarding the nature and the magnitude of the wellbeing effects of these systems is currently scarce and at times inconclusive. These systems will continue to play a role in Africa’s energy landscape in the foreseeable future due to limited access to and uncertainties related to centralised grid electrification for a significant segment of the population; but, based on the weak evidence base, we are daydreaming if we think that solar home systems can improve human wellbeing in a significant way due to their low energy-generation capacity. Accordingly, future research opportunities are suggested, which could help to address some of the shortcomings in the evidence base.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review

Ojöng

2022

Sustainability

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“…Moreover, it clearly uses "systematic methods to minimize bias in the identification, selection, synthesis, and summary of studies" [24]. As such, this study is guided by some core principles related to the systematic review process [21,[25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Practices are internally differentiated, since practitioners in different cases may engage in the same practices differently [17]. Forms of social difference, including ethnicity [18], caste, class, age, religion, sexuality, the rural/urban divides, shape practices and energy adoption, while intersectionality examines how social power relations, based on forms of difference such as gender, class, age and race, are interconnected [19][20][21][22]. One form of difference derives its meaning through articulation with another, with individuals being actively engaged in the development of their identities [23].…”

Section: Shss Through Social Practice Theory and Intersectionality Lensesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Home Systems in South Asia: Examining Adoption, Energy Consumption, and Social Practices

Ojöng

2021

Sustainability

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Renewable electricity generation from solar energy has rapidly increased in South Asia. This paper presents a systematic review of 79 scholarly papers on the topic of solar home system adoption, energy consumption, and social practices in South Asia. Using an intersectionality lens, the paper demonstrates that various categories of difference, such as gender, age, class, and ethnicity, intersect and shape the adoption of this technology in South Asia. Utilizing a social practice theory lens, the paper shows that solar home systems shape the spatial and temporal arrangements and practices of members of households that have adopted the technology, as well as their counterparts who have not. This technology has a practical but also symbolic function; the symbolic function and social meaning are derived from the economic and socio-cultural contexts. As this renewable energy technology is embedded in economic and socio-cultural contexts, people reconfigure it in creative ways to meet their everyday energy needs. The paper identifies research gaps and suggests future research agendas.

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“…Indeed, some researchers appear to have generally accepted the output metrics for social impact developed by the off‐grid solar industry itself which consistently show off‐grid energy companies delivering tangible improvements in livelihoods, educational outcomes and social mobility without the costs associated with fossil fuel (e.g. Kouton, 2021; Ojong, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Power and its Discontents: Critiquing Off‐grid Infrastructures of Inclusion in East Africa

Cross¹,

Neumark²

2021

Development and Change

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Since 2010, solar energy companies in North America and Europe have played a pivotal role in delivering clean, reliable and sustainable electricity to millions of people living off the grid across sub-Saharan Africa. However, today, off-grid solar energy in Africa is no longer seen as an unmitigated social and economic good. Inflows of private equity investment have led the employees and customers of off-grid solar companies to question the industry's commercial dynamics. Their critiques address the mis-selling of solar home systems and the technical limits of off-grid infrastructures for domestic production, framed both by dominant market paradigms and by relationships to nation, community and family. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in East Africa's off-grid solar industry, this study assembles these critical perspectives into a wider analysis of off-grid solar power as an adverse 'infrastructure of inclusion'.The authors would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their comments during this article's development, as well as Kate Meagher for feedback and editorial support with the final article. In addition, the authors would like to thank interlocutors in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as Germany, the UK and the US.

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The rise of solar home systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Examining gender, class, and sustainability

Cited by 40 publications

References 65 publications

Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review

Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review

Solar Home Systems in South Asia: Examining Adoption, Energy Consumption, and Social Practices

Solar Power and its Discontents: Critiquing Off‐grid Infrastructures of Inclusion in East Africa

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