Solenergi i utviklingsland : hvilke faktorer hemmer og fremmer bruk av solenergi i India?

Mange utviklingsland har rike solressurser, som kan utnyttes ved hjelp av solenergiteknologi. Denne undersøkelsen søker svar på hvilke faktorer som hemmer eller fremmer økt utnyttelse av slike ressurser. India har erfaringer fra mange års arbeid for økt bruk av solenergi og fra mange ulike bruksområder, og det er erfaringer derfra som danner grunnlag for undersøkelsen. Analysen behandler for det første internasjonale spørsmål som skaper interesse for økt bruk av solenergi i verden, og viser hvordan denne interessen påvirker ett enkelt lands arbeid for økt bruk av solenergi. For det andre drøftes erfaringer fra hvordan solenergiteknologi fungerer i praksis på en rekke bruksområder, ut fra Indias mangfoldige erfaringer. For det tredje utforskes hvordan etablerte energisystemer og tenkemåter innen tunge institusjoner både på internasjonalt og nasjonalt plan hemmer økt bruk av solenergi. Fjerde tema som blir behandlet i analysen er strategier som er brukt for å øke bruk av solenergi i India, og hvilke resultater de har gitt. Til sammen bidrar disse delene til å gi en helhetlig forståelse av hva som påvirker utviklingen på solenergifeltet i India, som samtidig er nyttig for å kunne vurdere solenergispørsmål som gjelder andre utviklingsland. Oppgaven forteller for øvrig om hvordan solcelleteknologi og termisk solenergi virker, hva de kan brukes til og hvor i verden de brukes mest. Evolusjonær økonomisk teori om fremvekst av nye teknologiske systemer er brukt som verktøy i analysen

Village-level solar power in practice: Transfer of socio-technical innovations between India and Kenya

English Summary This dissertation monograph investigates village-level solar power supply, which is one of the potential solutions for providing access to basic electricity services for people who are not served by conventional electricity grids. The first research question is: How can village-level solar power supply systems be implemented in ways that make them well-functioning and viable in the long run, useful for the community members and widely implemented and used? The dissertation furthermore analyses transfer of social and technical innovations between different socio-cultural settings, including how a translation of innovations to different social contexts may take place, asking a second research question: How can social and technical innovations on local infrastructure systems be transferred between geographical contexts? The dissertation includes a case study on village-level solar power supply in India and explores how knowledge obtained in India is transferred to a new local and national context in Kenya. Solar power supply systems in Indian and Kenyan villages are analysed in terms of how they function in practice and why including how the local systems are influenced by national framework conditions. The process of transferring social and technical innovations between India and Kenya is analysed in terms of how the outcomes occurred, including how the social and technological innovations created in one socio-cultural setting were investigated and brought into a different local and national context with similar challenges in infrastructure provision. The dissertation analyses how a socio-technical systems perspective can be used to better understand the human and social aspects of implementation, sustenance and expansion of village-level power provision without losing sight of the technical and economic aspects. This perspective is combined with other approaches to social transformation, renewable energy systems, and technology transfer, and directs attention to people’s everyday challenges and practices at the local level. A framework of analysis for local case studies of socio-technical innovations is developed and applied. Moreover, the dissertation examines how a socio-technical systems perspective can be helpful also in studies of spatial transfer of innovations. The data material includes qualitative interviews, participant observation and project documentation, complemented with quantitative data and statistics. The study builds on trans-disciplinary research and action research; practical development of plans for a local electricity supply system in Kenya, as well as implementation, adjustment and improvements based on research results generated underway. The dissertation argues that research and practice on how to achieve electricity for all need to consider social and geographical contexts at different levels, and presents examples of how social contexts may influence the design and functioning of infrastructures. The dissertation shows that facilitating creative, inclusive and committed learning processes is important both for the development of better and more inclusive energy models, for attempts at up-scaling, and for spatial transfer of innovations. The analysis contributes to the knowledge on how socio-technical innovation with emphasis on equity and sustainability might be stimulated, despite barriers constituted by established energy regimes and other social structures

Solar powered electricity access: Implications for women’s empowerment in rural Kenya

This paper examines the gendered implications of various types of electricity access in rural Kenya spanning from the central grid to solar-based systems such as community projects, village scale supply and private solar home systems (SHS). Drawing on material collected in Homa Bay and Kitui counties in 2016, the paper examines the gendered setup, organisation and effects of solarpowered electricity access as compared with the central grid. The paper employs a framework for analysing women’s empowerment through electrification, which draws on Kabeer, Friedman as well as anthropology, socio-technical system theory and practice theory. The results show that people tend to cherish solar-based solutions whereas the grid is perceived to be costly, unreliable and unavailable. As to the gendered organisation of supply, men dominate within the grid, mini-grids and private suppliers, leaving an important potential for women’s empowerment untapped. Two community projects included women’s ‘hands-on’ participation and spurred local discourses about women’s capabilities. Access is also gendered on the user side. Because men tend to own the houses, have a higher income and a moral right to make major decisions, fixed connections and high subscription fees provide women with less agency than what is the case in decentralised systems of supply

Spatial transfer of innovations: South-South Learning on village-scale solar power supply between India and Kenya

This article presents research on the transfer of sustainable energy innovations between countries of the global South from a socio-technical perspective. The analysis identifies factors important for how a deliberate transfer process may unfold. It is based on monitoring a case of South-South transfer of experiences with village-level solar power supply models from India to Kenya. This research shows that it is not so much stable technical solutions which travel between different spatial and cultural contexts, but that experiences with sustainable technologies in one country can provide important inspiration and knowledge for the development of new socio-technical designs based on local needs in a new socio-spatial context in a different country. Such learning processes can be especially effective between countries with similar problem situations, such as poverty and lacking access to electricity in rural areas. To achieve a successful transfer, strong emphasis must be put on mutual learning and exchange of knowledge, socio-technical experimentation, adaptation and social embedding. Learning from promising, innovative infrastructures in other geographical areas needs to capture the micro-level interactions between people, technology and socio-cultural contexts, while also taking into account larger processes of system innovation and emerging transitions

Diffusion of solar PV in East Africa: What can be learned from private sector delivery models?

Solar photovoltaic (PV) will play the leading role in addressing off‐grid electricity access; it can be applied almost anywhere and used in a wide range of applications for households, businesses, institutions and communities. However, to fully exploit this opportunity, off‐grid markets that need these solutions need to be effectively penetrated. This article focuses on delivery models for off‐grid solar PV solutions and how they address barriers such as awareness, acceptance, access and affordability. It is based on a survey of 13 solar PV businesses in East Africa, supported by the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme1 and implementing the following delivery models: Retail, Pay‐As‐You‐Go (PAYG), Consumer financing, Mini‐grid and Fee‐for‐service. The survey is complemented by supporting literature and incorporates experiences from a University of Oslo research project on a village scale energy access model in Kenya and case studies of solar PV mini‐grids in Senegal and India. Experiences from implementation of the different models are analyzed and generic descriptions provided. The models are compared to illustrate their suitability and effectiveness for delivering different levels of energy access. Retail and PAYG models are identified as effective at reaching scale, while the mini‐grid and fee‐for‐service models demonstrate good potential to affordably and sustainably deliver a wider range of electricity access. The limitations of conventional rural electrification strategies are also discussed and the potential to incorporate some delivery models into electrification programs assessed

Women’s empowerment through electricity access: scoping study and proposal for a framework of analysis

This article reviews the empirical literature on women’s empowerment through electricity access and the methodologies that have been used. Statistical studies have looked at areas with access to the grid and measured the impact on welfare indicators and employment. Qualitatively oriented studies have looked at various types of supply and studied how electricity access in a given context has influenced women and men in everyday life, sometimes focusing on the role of the design of the systems of supply and the process of electrification. The overall results show that electricity access benefits the welfare of women as well as men, but that the impact on gender relations remains largely unclear. With the ambition to better understand the gendered nature – and impacts – of various types of electricity access, we develop a framework for analysing women’s empowerment through electricity and subsequently illustrate its applications by drawing on the reviewed empirical literature

Pathways to electricity for all: What makes village-scale solar power successful?

This article presents new empirical research on what it takes to provide enduring access to affordable, reliable and useful electricity services for all. We analyze and synthesize the long-term experiences with three different systems for village-scale solar power supply in India, Senegal and Kenya. Since this scale of electricity provision forms part of village infrastructure, it requires particular types of knowledge, policies and support mechanisms. This research therefore investigates how village-scale solar systems can be designed, implemented, sustained and replicated in ways that make them accessible and useful for the community members. Drawing on a sociotechnical and practice-oriented approach, we show that the electricity system’s degree of adaptedness to its social context affects many important qualities of the system such as the relevance of the available electricity services for the people, the system’s operational and economic sustainability and the potential for replication. Achieving such adaptation notably requires a flexible approach on the part of implementers, funders and local actors before, during and after implementation. We also show the need for institutionalization of decentralized electricity provision, discuss the current ambiguities in policies, regulations and funding mechanisms for villagescale solar power, and provide recommendations to policy makers and donors

In the light of what we cannot see: Exploring the interconnections between gender and electricity access

In this paper we quantify gendered decision-making patterns regarding electricity access, light and appliances in selected rural contexts in Mahadevsthan (Nepal), Homa Bay (Kenya) and Chhattisgarh (India). In the literature, decision-making in electricity has primarily been studied through case studies and qualitative methods. By quantifying some of the gendered patterns in this field, we first seek to document and compare the situation in selected contexts and then to refine the understanding of the nexus between gender and electricity access. The research design was informed by the team's previous qualitative work, and we present results from a household survey conducted in 2016 and 2017. We anchor the analysis in a micro-political approach to energy, and we draw on empowerment and domestication frameworks for analyzing tenets of energy justice. The findings show that women generally had less power than men to make decisions about electricity and appliances and that women's lack of rights in electricity was mirrored in their subordinated position in the socio-material contexts. Comparing groups of women, women in Mahadevsthan, including those who were living without a man in the household, were most likely to have electricity access and acquire appliances of their choosing. Widows in Homa Bay were the least likely to have electricity access. By drawing on the wider literature, we discuss the results in terms of how women's agency and access to electricity and appliances of their choosing in the Global South may be improved

Samfunnsgeografi: En innføring

Samfunnsgeografi er studiet av samfunnets romlighet. Som student i samfunnsgeografi utvikler du din geografiske forestillingsevne og blir i stand til å forstå betydningen av det geografiske i samfunnet rundt deg. Denne boka gir deg en innføring i fagets historie og kjernebegreper – som rom, sted, skala, territorium og nettverk – samt en gjennomgang av viktige underdisipliner og forskningstemaer som preger faget i dag. Kapitlene er skrevet på norsk av 24 samfunnsgeografer basert i Norge. Forfatterne bruker selv en samfunnsgeografisk tilnærming i sin egen forskning. Gjennom de ulike kapitlene lærer du blant annet mer om klimaendringer, globalisering og ulikhet, politisk deltagelse, byutvikling, migrasjon, fattigdom og utviklingsspørsmål