THE RENEWABLE & APPROPRIATE ENERGY LABORATORY PRESENTS:
TITLE: Solar Home Systems and the quest for energy access: an institutional economic analysis comparing Bangladesh and Kenya
SPEAKER: Georg Heinemann
DESCRIPTION:
In light of being the country with the highest and fastest growing penetration of solar home systems (SHSs) in Sub-Sahara Africa, Kenya has the ambition to achieve 100% electricity access by 2022. With over four million solar home systems (SHS) deployed, Bangladesh stands out in the development of decentral, bottom-up electrification.
His work compares both countries and provides a critical assessment of the organizational models deployed. He will discuss the effects of large-scale SHS deployment by conducting an institutional economic analysis in which the organizational model for SHS diffusion is introduced, the interdependencies between recent government policies and the supply side is analysed, and policy adjustments are suggested.
He offers insight into the opportunities and challenges of decentral electrification based on off-grid technologies, while advancing our understanding of energy access in the Global South as part of the UN SDG 7 goal.
BIOGRAPHY:
Georg is currently a visiting scholar at Energy & Resources Group at UC Berkeley. His fellowship is part of his Phd program which he pursues at Berlin University of Technology (TU Berlin), Workgroup for Economics and Infrastructure Policy. His research interests include energy access, environment and sustainability as well as institutional economics. Furthermore, he co-leads the junior research group Microenergy Systems at TU Berlin. Prior to his research he has worked in numerous roles for off-grid companies, including a three-year stay in East Africa for Barefoot Power PTY Ltd. Before joining Barefoot Power he served as volunteer for a year in Uganda for the German development service weltwärts. He holds a double-degree diploma in International Business Administration from ESB Reutlingen and ICADE Madrid.