太阳能：非洲经济的秘密武器

困难……

    短期内，太阳能发展的雄心仍然将面临诸多挑战。平价太阳尚能处于初期。普及率仍然相当低。据泰斯称，在d.Light运营的大多数国家，太阳能使用量都没有超过5%。超过10%根本无从谈起。

    这是典型的商业挑战：如何说服客户尝试新事物？对于非洲的太阳能公司，更加糟糕的是，随时可能连夜卷起包袱走人的竞争对手们向市场注入了大量廉价的仿制产品。“我们看到更多的中国仿制产品在市场中出现，”林麦克说。“有卖假电池的，还有假的太阳能电池板。这种垃圾破坏了这个市场。”

    即便客户愿意购买太阳能产品，这些公司也依然面临一项销售挑战：购买者或许手头没有足够的现金。举个例子，Fenix的ReadySet售价约150美元。这个价格对于普通乌干达人可是一大笔钱。世界银行（World Bank）的数据显示，乌干达2011年人均国民总收入（GNI）经购买力平价调整后为1,320美元。农村的收入水平甚至更低。根据乌干达统计局2009-2010年度的数据，北方农村地区的年收入不足全国平均水平的一半。

    太阳能公司的应对之策是制订“即付即用”计划或内部融资。Fenix最近开始向购买ReadySet的客户提供微型贷款。据林麦克称，他的公司迄今已发放了50,000万美元的信用贷款。

    对于在撒哈拉以南非洲地区经营的太阳能公司，最烦人的问题是分销。很多农村地区的客户很难接触，可能也不怎么了解太阳能发电。在这些地区，太阳能公司尽可能与成熟的零售商合作。但这也有其限制。比如，非洲最大的电信提供商MTN在其零售网点销售ReadySet，但这些零售店大部分都集中在城市地区。

    “只有很小比例的潜在客户正在使用太阳能，”汉德勒说。

    她说，至少现在，像煤油等常见的能源解决方案仍然占据着主导地位。

    “我们必须创建一个全新的市场，”泰斯承认这是一个巨大的挑战。“我们正在从零开始建设全新的分销渠道。”

A few kinks …

    Yet in the near term, a number of challenges will check this ambition. Affordable solar is in a nascent stage. Adoption is still quite low. According to Tice, in most of the countries in which d.Light operates, solar use doesn't top 5%. Nowhere is it greater than 10%.

    This is a typical business challenge: How do you convince customers to try something new? For solar companies in Africa, this is aggravated when fly-by-night competitors dump cheap knockoffs into the market. "We're seeing more Chinese generics show up," Lin said. "You have fake batteries being sold. And fake solar panels. That kind of garbage undermines the market."

    Even when customers are willing to buy solar products, these companies face a sales challenge: purchasers may not have enough cash on hand. For example, Fenix's ReadySet costs about $150. For an average Ugandan, that's a serious investment. According to the World Bank, Uganda's 2011 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, was $1,320. In villages, income levels are even lower. In the rural north, according to 2009-2010 data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, annual income is less than half the national average.

    Companies have responded by developing "pay-as-you-go" plans or in-house financing. Fenix recently started to offer microloans to customers purchasing the ReadySet. According to Lin, the company has to date extended $50,000 in credit.

    For solar companies in Sub-Saharan Africa, among the most vexing problems is distribution. In many rural areas, customers are hard-to-reach and may have had little exposure to solar power. Where solar companies can, they team up with established retailers. But this has its limits. For example, while MTN, Africa's largest telecommunications provider, sells the ReadySet through its retail outlets, those outlets are for the most part concentrated in urban areas.

    "Only a very small percentage of potential customers are using solar," said Handler.

    At least for now, she said, familiar energy solutions, like kerosene, remain king.

    "We're having to create a whole new market," said Tice, acknowledging the challenge. "We're creating from scratch entirely new distribution channels."