SOLAR STATISTICS

According to the Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2016, the number of people living off-grid in Africa has grown by 114 million on the continent since 2000, with several million joining yearly. The pico-solar market – solar lanterns and systems smaller than 10W – has grown rapidly. In 2014, sales reached more than four million units. Kenya accounted for 30 per cent of reported African sales of pico-solar products from July 2014 to July 2015; Ethiopia and Tanzania together made up another third. Grid-connected solar is also on the up. In 2014, the off-grid population in sub-Saharan Africa spent US$14 billion on lighting alone.