Utility Management Of village Scale Solar Photovoltaic Projects in Developing Countries: The Case of the Solar Energy Company and Notoue Village, North Narawa; Kiribati

摘要

Throughout the Third World, many development projects owe their success to community ownership, operation and management. The solar photovoltaic project at Notoue village, Kiribati, illustrates that ownership and management by an institution external to the community can offer a suitable alternative. The project is owned and managed by the Solar Energy Company (SEC), a government owned utility. and the photovoltaic equipment is leased out to interested households. Such an arrangement works well when the institution responsible for management of the project remains committed over the project lifetime, where households, recognise the benefits of adopting solar photovoltaic technology over the continued use of kerosene for lighting and dry cell batteries for radio/cassette players, and where a trained field technician is available on site to deal with problems.