"Factors Affecting Adoption and Scaling Up of Rooftop Solar PV Deployment in Urban Centres A Case Study of Nairobi City"

Abstract

Urban centres in developing countries are growing at unprecedented rate. This is attributed to high population growth being experienced in those nations and more people moving to urban centres and the desire for those nations to industrialize. These developing countries have abundant and underutilized natural resources that are backbones of economic growth making them attract foreign investments across the world. Energy demand on other side is rapidly increasing as more energy is needed to support urbanization and industrialization. This study was aimed at upscaling rooftop solar PV in urban centres. It explores on the factors affecting the deployment of the solar PV using Nairobi City in Kenya as the case study. The objective of the study was to establish the reasons why roof mounted Solar PV has not been scaling up in urban centres despite the high energy demand being experienced so far. The study used mixed research design to explore both qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the target population. Commercial industries and institutions using solar PV within Nairobi were targeted where a sample of 50 respondents was purposely selected. It was noted that high initial costs, lack of qualified technicians, bureaucracy delay in application and approval process and lack of awareness were among the major challenges affecting adoption and scaling up of rooftop SPV. Most consumers installed rooftop SPV to save on electricity bills. Others like SERC installed for training purposes and climate change awareness. Recommendations given included introduction of net metering, online platform to create awareness to help in decision making, data bases to facilitate tracking of all processes among others.