As the off-grid solar (OGS) market has matured, and product choice has expanded, distributors and customers report finding it increasingly difficult to identify and procure high-quality, affordable products at the last mile.

This report brings together the GDC’s findings from 6 months of research on the quality of best-selling non-quality-verified (non-QV) products in Kenya. Through a funnelled field survey and quality testing led by VeraSol, our research identified non-QV products that are close to meeting the Lighting Global Quality Standards while remaining highly price-competitive with leading products in the market today.

This report was developed by the Global Distributors Collective in partnership with VeraSol, a quality assurance program for modern off-grid solar solutions managed by CLASP and the Schatz Energy Research Center.

In partnership with the World Bank, CLASP is conducting a comprehensive analysis of the lighting market, its stakeholders and supply chains in mainland Tanzania and its semi-autonomous island, Zanzibar. The study will support the development of lighting policy in the country and island in an effort to promote the adoption of safe and energy-efficient lighting.

The Benefits of Lighting Efficiency Policies

Efficient lighting and appliances cost less to run, last longer, save users money, and are safer for consumers. Energy efficient light emitting diodes (LED) lightbulbs use 85% less energy and last more than 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. As a result of low costs and high durability, users save money and free up electrical capacity, which gives people and businesses more access to reliable power. By using less electricity, carbon emissions are reduced to mitigate the risks of climate change. Implementing minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) also steer the market away from highly-toxic mercury-based lighting products that can pose a negative health risk if broken.

In Tanzania, policy-makers and experts are considering the adoption of new regulatory mechanisms that will set quality and performance requirements for lighting products. Although Zanzibar is a part of the United Republic of Tanzania, the semi-autonomous island maintains separate regulation and implementation mechanisms to the mainland. Through the implementation and enforcement of synchronized standards, the markets in Tanzania and Zanzibar will benefit from improvements in energy security and greater economic development, while simultaneously reducing energy bills for households and businesses.

Project Overview

CLASP will work with the World Bank’s Energy & Extractives Team to research policies and programmes, evaluate technologies currently on the market, identify key stakeholders in the supply chain, develop an end-user perspective and national lighting market model. The findings may inform the development of future lighting efficiency policies.

The scope of the study includes residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal/outdoor lighting. CLASP will quantify the market size, identify available energy-efficient technologies, quantify energy savings potentials, map distribution networks and sub-national and overall market trends and development.

This project expands on CLASP’s work supporting appliance cooling policies in Kenya and ECOWAS, lighting and appliance policy development under EELA, off-grid solar product quality assurance through VeraSol, and energy efficient household appliances and commercial equipment promotion in South Africa.

With the growth of the off-grid solar market, quality standards are increasingly important to ensure that countries in sub-Saharan Africa are not flooded with low-quality products that undermine consumer confidence. VeraSol, a quality assurance program managed by CLASP, has joined the Africa Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility to support the development of quality standards and implementation procedures in fourteen countries across the continent.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where governments and the private sector are increasingly forced to find creative solutions for the 600 million people who lack basic electricity services, there is growing evidence that off-grid energy solutions are steadily gaining recognition. More than 15 million solar photovoltaic (PV) products have been sold across the region to date, providing millions of households with their basic lighting and energy needs.

In recognition of the growing importance of alternative energy solutions, governments across Africa are embracing standalone solar systems to meet their universal electrification targets. There are, however, impediments in many of the markets in the region that must be addressed. One of the key barriers is the lack of quality standards to protect consumers and markets from an influx of low-quality, non-affiliated solar products.

For over four years, CLASP has played a key role in promoting good-quality off-grid solar products. From 2016 to 2020, CLASP implemented the Lighting Global Quality Assurance Program for the World Bank Group, in partnership with Schatz Energy Research Center. The program works with product manufacturers and suppliers to encourage the production, distribution, and sale of quality pico-PV products and solar home system kits around the world.

Our data show demand for quality verification services is growing. Lighting Global Quality Assurance reported an over 50% increase in the number of testing agreements signed since 2017. To better serve the market, CLASP, through VeraSol, is working closely with our partners to improve expand quality assurance services and testing capacity across sub-Saharan Africa.

VeraSol and the Evolution of Quality Assurance

CLASP’s CEO Christine Egan announces the launch of VeraSol at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo

To further support growing quality assurance efforts across sub-Saharan Africa, CLASP announced the launch of VeraSol at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum and Expo in Nairobi. An evolution of Lighting Global Quality Assurance, VeraSol supports high-performing, durable off-grid solar products that expand access to modern energy services. Building on the strong foundation laid by the World Bank Group, VeraSol expands its quality assurance framework to encompass off-grid appliances and productive use equipment.

CLASP Joins the Africa Clean Energy Program Under VeraSol

The UK’s Department of International Development (DFID) developed the Africa Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility (ACE-TAF) program to respond to this challenge. The program covers fourteen countries and aims to address a host of barriers that make markets unattractive to potential manufacturers and distributors. To support the roll out of market development activities, DFID requested the International Financial Corporation (IFC) operate as a strategic advisor and leverage the experiences and lessons learned from across the ten Lighting Africa/Global programs in Asia and Africa, especially in the implementation of the quality assurance program.

Leveraging its four years of experience in off-grid solar quality assurance under VeraSol, CLASP has joined the program as quality assurance (QA) managers to support the IFC and program managers Coffey International Development on the implementation of quality assurance activities under the ACE-TAF program. Members of the VeraSol team will work with governments to adopt IEC/Lighting Global standards under their regulatory frameworks and set up five solar testing lab facilities in five countries across the continent.

CLASP’s Francis Ndonga meets with Abdiwahid Ibrahim Ahmed, Director General of Ministry of Energy & Water Resources on Somalia’s quality assurance framework at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo.

Over the past few months, the VeraSol team traveled around the continent to participate in ACE country manager meetings with standards bodies and government representatives and to make presentations on the role of quality assurance in market development. Quality assurance encompasses the entire process of creating and validating that products reaching the market are durable, reliable and cost-effective.

At the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo in February, the VeraSol team met with representatives from several ACE-TAF countries. The forum offered further opportunity to engage in conversation around standards development and implementation of quality assurance policies. The team also attended the ACE-TAF Country Manager Meeting in Zambia and met with standards bodies and government officials in Ethiopia and Malawi.

These meetings provided insight into the current state of those countries’ off-grid solar market regulatory frameworks and facilitated visits to potential testing laboratories. Following the visits, CLASP is developing profiles to understand regulatory frameworks and testing capacity of each country. Five countries will be selected to host laboratories to test solar products and equipment.

Over the next several months, the VeraSol team will draft a training manual for the ACE country managers to provide a deeper perspective on quality assurance and develop a QA framework for the country managers to follow when addressing government representatives. Finally, the team will create a roadmap for each participating country to follow as quality assurance policies are created and implemented.

For over a decade, Lighting Global Quality Assurance has operated as the foundational platform for the off-grid solar industry, serving as a critical and stabilizing force. By working with the sector to set quality standards, promote durable off-grid products, and adopt harmonized policies, Lighting Global Quality Assurance has instilled confidence in what was once a nascent and unproven industry.

CLASP, in partnership with the Schatz Energy Research Center (Schatz Center), has managed Lighting Global Quality Assurance on Behalf of the World Bank Group since 2016. Together, CLASP and the Schatz Center have implemented all aspects of quality assurance, including the development and maintenance of quality standards, product quality verification, and technical assistance to governments.

Yet there is more to do. Advancements in technology and consumer affordability are pushing the market toward higher-power systems able to support appliances and productive uses. As consumers climb the energy ladder, the need to expand quality assurance beyond lighting grows.

On February 18, 2020, Lighting Global, CLASP, and the Schatz Energy Research Center launched VeraSol, an evolved quality assurance program that responds to the market’s growing needs.

VeraSol builds upon the strong foundation laid by Lighting Global. and expands its services to encompass appliances, productive uses, and component-based solar home systems. The program maintains the existing Lighting Global Quality Assurance framework and merges it with comparable product data for off-grid appliances and productive uses currently housed under Equip Data. To better serve consumers, companies, and the market, VeraSol now encompasses technical foundations—in the form of uniform test methods—for appliances and productive uses. It will expand these services to other products in the coming years.

VeraSol is managed by CLASP in partnership with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University (Schatz Center). Both organizations have managed the Lighting Global Quality Assurance program since 2016 and will continue to oversee standards development, product testing, quality verification, and technical assistance.

VeraSol will serve the sector as a broad foundational platform. Under the operational leadership of CLASP and the Schatz Center, VeraSol will build collective ownership of QA services across an expanded group stakeholders. Foundational support is provided by the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global program, UK DfID, IKEA Foundation, and others.

Over the next year, CLASP and its implementing partners will work with Lighting Global to transition all elements of the quality assurance program while minimizing the risk of market disruption. CLASP expects to fully transition the program by September 2021. For more information please visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, or contact Ari Reeves and Lauren Boucher.