Ghana: Success and Challenges in Mini-Grid Deployments
Ghana has been a leader in adopting solar energy initiatives to meet the needs of its rural population. Of particular interest is the country’s approach to rural electrification through its solar mini-grids strategy, where Ghana expects renewable solar energy to help solve its power shortages while also stimulating economic growth in deprived regions.
Policy and Institutional Framework for Solar Energy in Ghana
The Ghanaian government has undertaken significant initiatives aimed at creating an enabling environment for the exploitation of solar energy, particularly in rural areas. The importance of renewable energy in achieving sustainable development is pointed out by the national energy policy of the country. The primary source of the energy policy of Ghana is the Act 832, Renewable Energy Act of 2011, and the 2010 National Energy Policy that seeks to diversify the energy mix and increase the share of renewable sources of energy on the national grid. Ghana has set ambitious targets of meeting renewable energy, and the country is scheduled to supply 10 percent of the power through the assistance of renewable energy resources by the year 2030 (Mills et al., 2018).
The government has developed many initiatives to encourage the scale-up of solar power energy, besides the Renewable Energy Act. Rural Electrification Project (REP), which was initiated in the 1980s, has played the role of helping to make electricity available in the rural environment. These efforts include an aĴempt to improve the off-grid solutions in remote areas where it is uneconomical to extend the grid through new programs such as the Solar Mini-Grid Program. They have been a significant force in ensuring that policies are developed as well as the project set up in a bid to enhance access to solar energy via the Energy Commission of Ghana and the Ministry of Energy (Owusu et al., 2020).
In May 2025, the Government of Ghana officially launched a landmark renewable energy project, the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP), aimed at significantly expanding electricity access in some of the country’s most underserved communities. According to the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, the SREP initiative will involve the construction of 35 mini-grids and the installation of 1,450 solar home systems across the Bono East, Oti, and Savannah regions. In addition, 12,000 net-metered rooftop solar PV systems will be installed nationwide to support Ghana’s transition toward a greener energy mix
Ghana has also established various institutional frameworks in boosting the process of the use of solar energy, like the Sustainable Energy for all (SE4All), which shall hopefully lead to the universalization of accessibility to clean, affordable, and reliable energy. Another avenue through which the government supports solar energy initiatives is by securing funding from international partners, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank (Agyemang et al., 2017).
Off-Grid Solar Solutions in Rural Communities
Off-grid solar systems have undergone exponential success, particularly in rural Ghana, where people have erected solar mini-grids in remote seĴlements. One example of such a project is the Ghana Solar Energy Project that is focused on the electrification of rural Ghana with the use of solarpowered mini-grid. Such photovoltaic power plants managed micro grids that run on an array of batteries have provided a stable and renewable power to a series of different villages in Ghana particularly in the Northern and Western ends where growth of a grid is merely inadvisable.
Dzorwulu, one of the villages in the Northern region has been able to benefit by the solar minigrid technology that has introduced light, irrigation power, and electricity of small businesses. The implication of this project has been imminent since, not only electricity is made accessible but the socio-economic status of the community has also been improved through the medium of this project. Energy stability has significantly boosted the output of businesses and institutions of learning now stand the chance to expand and operate longer hence making education available (Abrokwah et al., 2019).
Mini-grid scalability in rural areas, however, even though it is good news, is a maĴer of concern. One of the issues that determines this sustainability is its financial viability. There are some minigrids already facing operational and maintenance difficulties due to lack of local capacity, and tariffs have proved a challenge in certain initiatives since they may not be affordable by the citizens living in rural seĴings (Rashid et al., 2018). There has also been issues with regards to technical problems of energy storage and grid integration of the operational challenge. Some of the challenges that will be crucial to tackle in the future are technical and financial as Ghana continues to launch an increasing number of solar mini-grids.
Ethiopia: Integrating Solar Energy into Rural Development
Ethiopia, characterized by large rural population has taken giant steps in integrating solar energy in its rural development in its broader scope to encourage sustainable development and ease the level of poverty in the country. With energy demand growing in Ethiopia, the government realized the need of using renewable energy sources towards accomplishing its development objectives, especially in electric power to the rural areas. In this strategy, an important place belongs to solar energy as an economical and environmentally friendly source of power.
Government Support and Policy Incentives for Rural Electrification
The Ethiopian government has implemented a range of policies aimed at promoting the expansion of renewable energy, particularly in rural areas. Notable among these policies is the Rural Electrification Program (REP), which seeks to provide reliable electricity to rural communities using sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. The government also developed the Ethiopia Energy Access Program, which focuses on scaling up renewable energy technologies, including solar energy, to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030 (Berhanu et al., 2020).
In order to realize these endeavors, Ethiopia has offered accommodating policy platform, which comprises of incentives on solar technologies, tax holidays on importation of renewable energy and motivating the involvement of the private sector. Government and the international organizations, the world bank, the European Union and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have worked together so as to obtain funds and technical assistance regarding the rural electrification program. With this partnership, Ethiopia has documented an impressive milestone in adopting the solar energy solution especially in the rural areas where the grid is difficult to expand (Abdi et al., 2019).
Furthermore, the National Electrification Program (NEP), the Ethiopian initiative, that started in 2018 is expected to intensify the use of solar energy in the off-grid and rural populations. The program is centered on decentralized solar in the form of solar home systems and mini-grids to deliver cleanreliable electricity to the underserved populations. Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar systems are pushed by the government as well in order to make it more affordable to the low-income population (Gedefaw et al., 2021).
Solar Solutions for Health and Education Sectors
Renewable energy can support development activities, as in Ethiopia, where solar energy is used to improve healthcare and education in rural areas. A very good example is the use of solar-powered energy devices in health facilities and schools in the distant parts of the country. Such systems especially in places where connection to the national grid is either not available or unreliable.
Solar power is used to operate refrigerators for vaccines, provide lighting for medical staff, and power other essential medical equipment in rural health centers. For example, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), the energy supply of several health facilities has been converted to solar power, ensuring that vaccines are stored at the required temperatures; an essential factor for the effectiveness of immunization programs. In another example, solarpowered systems used on health posts in the rural areas have assisted in mitigation of expensive diesel generators, a less expensive and sustainable alternative solution (Gedefaw et al., 2021).
Solar has been utilized in the education sector to increase the learning hours in schools in rural areas, introduce lighting in evening studies, and in the usage of the computer in the digital learning process. The installation of solar systems in schools has provided students with electricity for lighting, which is particularly essential in areas without access to the grid. As an illustration, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education together with international donors has put a program in place to install solar systems in more than 1, 000 schools in the country that are in rural areas and enhancing education opportunities in these disadvantaged areas (Berhanu et al., 2020). These solar solutions have not only led to a stable source of energy but also boosted general efficiency levels of schools and health facilities as they require less use of expensive polluting fossil fuels.
Excerpt of: Decentralized Solar Energy Systems for Rural Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Pathways (Preprints.org 2026)