Exploring User Perspectives on Investing in Solar Electricity

Ellen Hoefsloot, thesis, Kenya

This research project, carried out by Innovation Sciences graduate student Ellen Hoefsloot, focuses on exploring user perspectives on investing in (solar) electricity in rural Kenya. The fieldwork for this project was carried out in western Kenya as partial preparation of the planned expansion of SolarNow, a social enterprise focused on providing solar electricity solutions in east Africa. The findings of this research show that actual user perspectives on investing in household access to electricity differ from many of the assumptions made in rural electrification literature, which can have strong implications for both rural electrification practice and theory.