The issue of importing small stand alone energy products is lately gaining increased importance for GTZ projects. On one hand, there are photovoltaic (PV) products such as Solar Home Systems or Pico PV devices that in most cases cannot be produced locally or consist of rather low-quality equipment (e.g. widely available Chinese low-cost products) on local markets. On the other hand, several options for imports of energy-saving cooking stoves have emerged recently.
But what should be GTZ's role in the market introduction of imported energy devices? Should GTZ take over an active role as an importer? Or just provide accompanying measures?
Summarising the results of a workshop during the 2009 staff meeting (MaTa) and incorporating examples from Bolivia and Southern Africa, HERA compiled the main issues in a HERA Info paper. The paper is now available in the EnDev Wiki: Importing Small Stand-Alone Energy Products: Experiences and Recommendations.
Please don't hesitate to add your own experiences with importing energy devices to the Wiki page (just add another country case to the end of the page!) or give recommendations for other projects that are planning to import! The downloadable PDF version will be updated on a regular basis. Template:Wl-publish: 2010-06-04 00:07:08 +0200
