Five countries, including India and Bangladesh, lead the world in solar home lighting systems and the two south Asian nations together account for 97 per cent of the renewable energy market in the region, says an international body report.
Accroding to IANS, the other three leading countries are Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, all in Africa.
Quoting cumulative sales data compiled by the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association and Bangladesh’s Infrastructure Development Company Ltd, the report — entitled “Decentralised Renewables: From Promise to Progress” and released on Tuesday by ‘Power for All’ — said India and Bangladesh account for 97 percent of solar home system and pico-PV adoption in South Asia.
Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia account for 67 percent of adoption in sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of companies operating in the country also indicates the level of activity in a market, said the report.
These market metrics, together with policy indicators, serve as a foundational measure to create usable insights regarding common policy “success factors” in countries with stronger decentralized renewable energy markets.
India is clearly a relevant region in the report.
There are still over 244 million people in India who do not have access to electricity and an estimated 8.10 million households that were using solar home system and pico-PV till mid-2015, said the report.
India also happens to be a country with the most ambitious renewable energy programme.
According to the draft national electricity plan released in 2016, India could well power itself with 60 per cent energy by 2027.
