Determinants of Uptake of Industrial Solar in Nairobi Metropolitan

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries have abundant solar energy estimated in terawatts. This can be harnessed to meet ever rising energy needs. Yet there are barriers affecting uptake of industrial solar by industries. What determines this uptake? It is important to study this in order to inform policy and practical strategies by the industry. This is a still evolving area of study. This study intended to add to the growing body of knowledge on sustainable energy. This research aimed to establish determinants and how they effect of uptake of industrial solar mini grids in Nairobi Metropolitan area. The study objectives were; to explore the effect of financial capability on uptake of industrial solar mini-grids, to find out the impact influence of Energy Act (2019) on uptake of industrial solar mini-grids, to determine the effect of business model on uptake of industrial solar mini-grids and to investigate the influence of public policy awareness on uptake of industrial solar The Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory guided this research study. Empirical review discussed helped in identifying research gap. The exploration utilized descriptive research design and the target population was twenty-six industrial consumers located within the Nairobi Metropolitan area. The target population also included three officials as follows; a representative from Ministry of Energy (MoE), Kenya Association of Manufactures (KAM) and an official from one of the developers. The study made use of a complete census study. Relationship between the variables is analyzed using a regression mode. Results are introduced through recurrence tables, diagrams and pie-graphs. To guarantee that moral thought was considered, the specialist acquired informed assent from the members so just the members who concurred took part willfully. The scientist was straightforward with data acquired from the review and was exclusively utilized for this scholarly examination concentrate as it were. The research findings indicate that financial capacity, energy regulations, business model and public policy awareness have a significant effect towards uptake of industrial solar. Further the study established that energy regulations had a significant relationship with uptake of industrial solar in that there were delays, corruption and bureaucracy in implementation of energy regulations. Business model had also a significant effect towards uptake of industrial solar and this was largely due to reliability and investment cost involved. Regarding public policy awareness this also had a significant effect towards uptake of industrial solar and promotion of the policy awareness was largely done by developers. The study recommends adoption of net metering and need for central publicly available database for industrial solar for future use and for planning purposes. The study further recommends financial institutions to offer affordable interest rates to investors in industrial solar with favorable loan application terms.