Market for Solar Home Systems (SHS)
Overview
In 2000, about 1.3 million households in developing countries used solar home systems (SHSs)[1].
Market by Country
The most mature off-grid PV markets exist in:
- India (650,000 installed SHSs)
- Bangladesh (550,000 SHSs)
- Indonesia (250,000 SHSs)
- China (150,000 SHSs)
- Kenya (120,000 - 250,000 SHSs)
- Morocco (80,000 SHSs)
- Mexico (80,000 SHSs)
- Nepal (69,411 SHSs)
- South Africa (50,000 SHSs)
- Sri Lanka (21,000 SHSs).
Kenya and China are by far the fastest growing markets, with annual growth rates of 10% – 20% in recent years.
Manufacturing
Many of these countries also manufacture components for SHS, such as batteries, controllers, and lights. In 2002, PV module manufacturers existed in:
PV cells are manufactured in:
In recent years, the manufacturing base in China has grown exponentially. Gabler (2008) and Photon (2008) estimate for 2007 that newly installed off-grid PV capacity in developing countries lies at around 50 MWp per year (compared to 150 MWp global annual market volume for off-grid PV – including off-grid PV for recreational uses and industry, such as telecom repeaters, worldwide).
System Prices
At system prices of about 10 €/Watt, total turnover in developing countries can be estimated to account for 0.5 € billion.
Further Information
References
- ↑ Nieuwenhout, 2002