Effective government policy and institutional frameworks: Pivots for the dissemination and sustainability of solar PV in rural areas in the developing world: The case of Ghana

The integration of solar PV into rural electrification programmes in the developing world has brought in its wake dissemination/adoption and sustainability challenges. In looking for ways that can enhance the wider dissemination of the technology in the developing world, some authors (e.g. Philips and Browne, 1999; Hankins, 2000) have advocated the greater involvement of the private sector. While the private sector could well play a role in the PV dissemination drive, this paper by contrast argues that effective government institutional and policy frameworks are the most pivotal elements in the drive to disseminate solar PV systems to the majority of the rural poor in the developing world, and to sustain them. Using two case studies, the paper contextualises the interrelationship between ineffective government institutional and policy frameworks and the low level of solar PV dissemination in rural Ghana as well as the lack of sustainability of PV projects.