9
New standards for
small-scale solar
home system
Solar Energy Development Association Ethiopia
(SEDA-E) seeks to propose new national
standards for the small-scale solar home system,
with a primary aim of regulating imported items.
Most of the solar technologies used in
Ethiopia are reported to be imported
from Asian countries, and a report by the
World Bank Group magnifies that about
60% of the solar technology products in
Ethiopia’s market are inferior quality or
substandard products.
According to Dereje Walelgn, president
of SEDA-E, the new standard can ensure
quality, as the market has been flooded
with substandard products. The standard
was drafted in a joint effort by the Ministry
of Water, Irrigation and Electricity; Ethiopia
MoWIE; the Standards Agency; and the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, with the initiation to
drafting the standard coming from
the ministry.
“We believe the standard will increase the
use of renewable energy in the country
and encourage the private sector to involve
the business,” says Frehiwot Kebede, state
minister of MoWIE.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT STUDY
Currently, the association, together with the
Ethiopian Energy Authority, is conducting
an impact assessment study to make the
standard obligatory.
“Renewable energy is a priority for us,
accompanied by the production of clean
energy sources and increasing access
to power. The standard could help the
country in reaching a community which
is in an off-grid area,” says Zewge Worku,
acting director of energy efficiency and
conservation at the Ethiopian Energy
Authority.
Yilma Mengistu, director of standards at
the Standards Agency, says the agency will
be collecting feedback from stakeholders
in 60 days and will incorporate them in the
draft. Then it will become obligatory after
the National Standardisation Council has
approved it.
“Hopefully, if the standard is approved,
it would help control the lesser-quality
imports in the informal channels,”
concludes Walelgn. PA
Source: Construction Review
Solar Energy Development Association Ethiopia (SEDA-E) seeks to
propose new national standards for the small-scale solar home system.
October 2018 Volume 24 I Number 8