Solar Home System Market Landscape in Mozambique
Solar Home System Market Landscape
Private sector
The SHS market has expanded greatly since 2017 and new players are entering the market. In 2018, there were around 20 companies selling certified SHS in Mozambique[1]. According to the data from Lighting Global’s quarterly off-grid sales report, SHS sales increased from 13,178 units in 2017 to 39,304 units in 2020[2][3]. This number can be expected to be much higher as the data is based on selected GOGLA members and companies selling products that meet Lighting Global Quality Standards and those that participated in the survey. The results also only included sales data from manufacturers to avoid double counting.
Until date (June 2021), the market is dominated by five major solar companies that provide SHS on pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) basis as well as direct cash sales. Solarworks! was the first to start operations in 2017 followed by Epsilon in 2018, Fenix Intl in 2019 and Ignite and Digitech in 2020[4]. These companies are a mix of manufactures (SolarWorks! and Fenix Intl) who sell their own brand products and distributors (Ignite, Epsilon and Digitech) who sell other companies’ brand products. Together, they have sold over 70,000 SHS units from 2017 until the end of 2020. They also cover all 11 provinces in Mozambique[4]. Further companies active in the SHS market include for example Green Watts and Fosera.
Table 1 shows the number of SHS sold by each company until 2020 as well as the types of products they offer[4].
| Name | Operating since | Provinces covered | SHS size (range in W) | Types of Systems | Unit of systems sold till 2020 | Financing model | Average price for the lowest Tier SHS offered by each company |
| SolarWorks! | 2017 | Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Manica and Nampula | 20-155 | Manufacturer of SHS with:
lights+charger+radio lights+charger+radio+TV lights+charger+radio+ sewing machine |
40,000 | PAYGO+
direct sales |
For 20 W SHS (3 light+battery+charger)
Down payment: 595 MT (USD 9.41) Monthly instalment: 295 (USD 4.66) Duration: 30 months |
| Fenix Intl | 2019 | Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Nampula, Zambezia and Manica | 10-50 | Manufacturer of SHS with:
lights+charger lights+charger+radio lights+charger+radio+TV |
27,000 | PAYGO+
direct sales |
10 W SHS (2 lights+charger)
Down payment: MT 800 (USD 12.6) Monthly instalment: MT 750 (USD 11.8) Duration: 18 months |
| Ignite | 2020 | Zambezia and Niassa | 12-400 | Distributor | 3000 | PAYGO+
direct sales |
|
| Epsilon | 2018 | Manica and Tete | 6 | Distributor of Greenlight Planet’s Sun King Home 60 EasyBuy.
SHS with 3 lamps+battery+USB port |
2500 | PAYGO+
direct sales |
6 W SHS (3 Lights+ charging port)
Down payment: MT 1625 (USD 27) Monthly instalment: not available Duration: 3, 6 or 12 months |
| Digitech | 2020 | Gaza, Inhambane, Nampula, Cabo Delgado | 4-400 | Distributor | 500 | PAYGO+
direct sales |
Donor programmes
There are many international energy programmes that aim to provide electricity to rural households using SHS. These programmes provide subsidies and grants to SHS companies targeting the high cost of market entry in mostly rural and remote geographical locations.
For a list of all active donor programmes in Mozambique, please see here. For a list of financing opportunities (whenever available), please click here.
Some of the major donor programmes that provide funding for SHS are highlighted below:
EnDev Mozambique is a multi-donor programme that supports SHS companies by using a results-based financing mechanism. In 2019, it provided access to electricity to 229,300 people by supporting PAYGO companies, mini-grid operators and grid densification programme[5]. Along with financial support, EnDev also capacitates private companies by offering business development services targeted at improving the bankability and growth of private sector.
World Bank’s ProEnergia programme aims to connect a total 250,000 households to the grid by the end of 2024. Specific targets related to SHS are[6]:
- mobilise private companies using RBF to provide 18,000 households with access to electricity using SHS.
- assisting Fundo de Energia (FUNAE) to adopt the Lighting Global quality standards for SHS for Mozambique[6]
BRILHO, funded by UK Aid, provides financial support and technical assistance to the private sector for off-grid electrification with SHS and mini grids.. The fund is divided into two mechanisms: catalytic grants and results-based financing (RBF)[7]. One of the companies that have already received funding form BRILHO is Ignite Power[8].
References
- ↑ Greenlight, “Mozambique – Off-Grid Energy Market Assessment.”
- ↑ Lighting Global et al., “Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data | July-December 2020”; GOGLA et al., “Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data | January - June 2020.”
- ↑ No data was recorded for the first quarter of 2018 and 2019 due to confidentiality of the data i.e for the data to be considered, there has to be more than three companies taking part in the GOGLA survey. Thus, this section only shows the data from 2017 and 2020 for comparison
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 “ALER - Resumo Renovaveis Em Mocambique 2021.”
- ↑ EnDev, “EnDev Mozambique.”
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 World Bank, “Mozambique - Energy for All (ProEnergia) Project.”
- ↑ “BRILHO.”
- ↑ News and Karie, “Ignite Power Secures Funding from the BRILHO Programme to Expand Operations throughout Mozambique.”
