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Sustainable Solar Energy

Collection and Storage for Rural

Sub-Saharan Africa

,
Rhys G. Charles* **, Matthew L. Davies* **,
,
†,‡
Peter Douglas , Ingrid L. Hallin §
*SPECIFIC-IKC, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY, SWANSEA, UNITED KINGDOM; **MATERIALS RESEARCH
†
CENTRE, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY, SWANSEA, UNITED KINGDOM; CHEMISTRY GROUP, MEDICAL
SCHOOL, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY, SWANSEA, UNITED KINGDOM; UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL,
‡
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA; FREELANCE RESEARCHER, EDMONTON, AB, CANADA
§
r.charles@swansea.ac.uk, rhys.charles@hotmail.com; m.l.davies@swansea.ac.uk
5.1 Introduction

We live in a warming world; we burn enormous quantities of fossil fuels; climate change
is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity, and yet in 2014, more than 1.2 billion
people (16% of the world’s population) were without access to electricity, and over half of
these were in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [1]. How can the ever-growing energy needs of the
developing world be met while avoiding the climatic consequences of an accelerating use of
fossil fuels? Solar energy is one of the ‘environmentally friendly’ energy sources, widely touted
as at least part of the answer to this question. There are a number of solar energy conversion
systems available and/or under development [2]. Of these, photovoltaic energy generation
is the most developed, with a well-established manufacturing and commercial base and
rapidly expanding deployment. In 2016, the global photovoltaics (PV) market was 77.3 GW,
with 320 GW installed capacity. Global PV power consumption has reached 333 TW h,
accounting for 1.3% of electricity generated [3]. When considering Africa, installed PV has
surged from 500 MW in 2013 to 2100 MW at the end of 2015. About 65% of installed capacity
in the continent is in South Africa (1361 MW), Algeria accounts for 13% (274 MW), and
Egypt for 1% (25 MW). Uganda, Namibia, and Kenya also account for around 1% each, with
between 20 and 24 MW each. In 2015, South Africa and Algeria installed 710 MW, accounting
for 95% of the 751 MW of installed capacity for the continent that year [4].
However, although usually viewed as a ‘green technology’, PV electricity generation and
storage have major environmental impacts associated with production, use, and disposal.
And, as we discuss here, truly sustainable PV solar energy generation and storage will
remain an elusive goal until it is fully integrated into a circular economy [5].

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