While the solar PV quality management system is still evolving in different regions of the world, Africa may be lagging behind. Undocumented, fragmented and poorly enforced quality assurance regimes will eventually slow down the growth and scale of PV products adoption in the market.

Few countries in Africa have built a strong “safety and performance standards” regime. It appears that the widely reported “low consumer confidence” in solar PV modules, inverters and related components, arguably stems from the market conditions made possible by the absence of robust quality assurance and performance standards.

From the African market perspective, since product warranty durations are not necessarily enforced by law in some countries, manufactures and solar product merchants are free to provide skeletal warranty offerings to helpless consumers. This visible absence of a strong regime on quality assurance in Africa, removes the necessary empowerment that consumers need to demand reasonable quality in PV products.

Full article: Solarmagazine