The different paths for renewable energies in Latin American Countries: The relevance of the enabling frameworks and the design of instruments

The promotion of renewable energy is a priority for the majority of the regions of the world. The key motivation for the promotion of these sources varies according to the countries; in some cases, the aim is to mitigate climate change, in some others is to address the growing energy demand, or to reduce the dependence on imported fossil fuels. To this purpose, governments implement different energy policies, based on a combination of primary and secondary instruments. Nevertheless, the performance of the policy will depend on the policy design and the enabling environment of the policy, e.g., macroeconomic conditions, political and regulatory risk, and financial sources. During the last decades, many Latin American and Caribbean countries have implemented energy policies to promote renewable electricity. Many of these countries have used a similar combination of support instruments (feed-in laws, targets, auctions, investment subsidies, etc.). However, the results are very dissimilar. In some cases, similar policies, and even the same instruments led to significant increases in renewable energies, while in other cases the impact has been very small. The aim of this study is to review the recent application of energy policies to renewable energies in a group of South American countries and to analyze whether the performance of the policy is due to policy incentives or enabling environment.Fil: Recalde, Marina Yesica. Fundación Bariloche. Fundación Bariloche Sede Buenos Aires. Prog.de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

Assessing the extent of evidence available relating to the impact of solar energy for households (HHs) in developing countries, surveys are reviewed focusing on the impact of pico-photovoltaic (e.g., solar lanterns) or solar home systems (SHS) on rural HHs and directly related economic activities of their occupiers. Ninety-eight documents have been analyzed. Areas of enquiry have included the impact of small individual solar photovoltaic systems on different facets of the life of HHs' occupiers: their education, health, finance, livelihoods, and social relations. Research on the impact of small solar systems contradicts the commonly accepted idea that small solar systems—due to their limited capacity—cannot have an impact in terms of development. In actual fact, these systems seem to have a significant impact in terms of quality of life for their users and in helping them to keep connected to the global world by supplying power to mobile phones and television sets. Nevertheless, it is not yet possible to draw definitive conclusions on their quantitative impact in specific areas, except for: (a) evidence of increase of quality lighting, (b) strong evidence of cost savings when kerosene lamps are replaced by solar lighting, and (c) evidence on the impact of solar lighting on the time of studying of children and quality of education. Finally, indications are given on the kind of research which could be conducted to fill current gaps in demonstrating evidence of the impact of small individual solar system

Solar Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Challenges and Opportunities of Technological Leapfrogging

For decades, Africa was generally perceived as the dumping ground for obsolete technologies. In recent years, technological leapfrogging, which is associated with the newly industrialized economies in Asia, has transpired in some key industries. In this article, we present the solar photovoltaic industry as one such industry and an integrated model of scaling up solar technologies. We identified five unique models aimed at scaling up solar energy in Africa: state-led, nongovernmental organization and other agency-led, emerging-market multinational enterprises-led, Avon, and pay-as-you-go models. Our analysis focused on four countries in particular (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya) and Africa in general. Despite the promising opportunities of this industry, a number of factors such as high up-front capital costs and limited end-user financing schemes have limited the technological process. We conclude by outlining the implications of the findings for theory and practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc