A climate for solar power: Solutions for Ethiopia’s energy poverty

The document examines Ethiopia's efforts to expand rural energy access through solar technologies under the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II). While solar lantern adoption has grown, the brief identifies significant systemic barriers—including fragmented import processes, foreign exchange shortages, and a lack of clear grid expansion plans—that hinder private sector investment and the deployment of higher-capacity systems like solar home systems and micro-grids. It recommends streamlining customs through 'Green Line' declarations, incentivizing local manufacturing, and promoting affordable financing models such as pay-as-you-go to achieve the target of increasing energy access for up to 4 million households by 2020.

• The Government of Ethiopia has established ambitious off-grid energy targets for 2020 under the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), which include the deployment of 3.6 million lanterns, 400,000 solar house systems, and 3,600 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for schools, rural health centres, and other government service centres.
• Solar lanterns have seen much higher dissemination rates than solar home systems because they are cheaper, do not require professional installation, and accounted for approximately 80% of solar products imported via the Development Bank of Ethiopia's finance facility.

APA

Lakew, H., Hailu, B., Hailu, T., & Carter, S. (2017). A climate for solar power: Solutions for Ethiopia’s energy poverty. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethiopia-Solar-Power-PB_for-web.pdf

Chicago

Lakew, Hilawe, Beza Hailu, Tesfaye Hailu, and Suzanne Carter. A climate for solar power: Solutions for Ethiopia’s energy poverty. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2017. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethiopia-Solar-Power-PB_for-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lakew |first1=Hilawe |last2=Hailu |first2=Beza |last3=Hailu |first3=Tesfaye |last4=Carter |first4=Suzanne |title=A climate for solar power: Solutions for Ethiopia’s energy poverty |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=December 2017 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethiopia-Solar-Power-PB_for-web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lakew2017climate, author = {Lakew, Hilawe and Hailu, Beza and Hailu, Tesfaye and Carter, Suzanne}, title = {{A climate for solar power: Solutions for Ethiopia’s energy poverty}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2017}, month = dec, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethiopia-Solar-Power-PB_for-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }