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The potential and challenges of off-grid solar photovoltaics in resource-challenged settings: the case of sub-Saharan Africa

Nature Reviews Materials volume 9, pages 151–153 (2024)Cite this article

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Solar photovoltaics has tremendous potential to address current gaps in electricity access for resource-challenged settings, such as sub-Saharan Africa. However, a rapid surge in installations and future growth will lead to an increase in waste from panels and batteries, which needs to be tackled urgently. Innovative technical solutions and improved policies and standards are required to address end-of-life challenges for solar photovoltaics in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Fig. 1: Solar panel potential, installed capacity and growth.

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Acknowledgements

P.P. is grateful to the Royal Academy of Engineering and Bboxx Ltd for funding research on solar energy in sub-Saharan Africa through the Smart Solar Solutions for All (S34ALL) fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, London, UK

    Priti Parikh & Jing Meng

  2. Engineering for International Development Centre, The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, London, UK

    Priti Parikh & Jing Meng

  3. UCL Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London, UK

    Ryan Wang

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  1. Priti Parikh
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  2. Ryan Wang
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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of the article.

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Correspondence to Priti Parikh.

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Related links

2023 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering: https://qeprize.org/winners/perc-solar-technology

Africa Energy Outlook: https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy-outlook-2022

Climatescope 2022: https://www.global-climatescope.org/downloads/climatescope-2022-power-report-en.pdf

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA): https://www.irena.org/Publications/2023/Aug/Renewable-Power-Generation-Costs-in-2022

ROSI: https://www.rosi-solar.com/

Share of electricity production from solar: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-electricity-solar

Solar power potential: https://globalsolaratlas.info/map

VeraSol: https://verasol.org/

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Parikh, P., Wang, R. & Meng, J. The potential and challenges of off-grid solar photovoltaics in resource-challenged settings: the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Nat Rev Mater 9, 151–153 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-024-00660-7

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