Socio-technical challenges and prospects of residential solar PV diffusion in Ghana: Insights from regime and intermediary actors

Abstract

This study seeks to broaden the understanding of factors influencing the diffusion of residential solar PV in Ghana by examining the socio-technical challenges confronting this sector from the perspective of regime and intermediary actors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with focal persons at the Energy Commission, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), 18 licensed solar home system (SHS) companies, and 15 real estate developers in Accra. The study uncovers compliance and mediation-based interactions between the intermediary and regime actors. Significant regime support for residential solar PV exists through incentives such as capital subsidies, net-metering schemes, and partnerships with financial institutions to provide soft loans for residential solar investments. Nonetheless, policy-regulation incoherence, a sectoral dichotomy between energy and urban planning, fragmented institutional efforts, inadequate access to long-term finance, and limited awareness/technical know-how of SHS emerged as the key challenges to residential solar PV diffusion in Ghana. Resolving these challenges requires synergies between the regime and intermediary actors to enact conducive regulatory frameworks and coordinate the activities of all actors to facilitate residential solar PV uptake in Ghana. The study also posits that the transition from a fossil-dependent regime to a low-carbon one not only requires a re-direction of financial incentives to technological niches but also to user-based intermediaries.