New Household Solar Funders Group established to coordinate donor activity

A new group of 36 funders active in the field of household solar in Africa, have come together to identify key priority areas to amplify sector impact.The Household Solar Funders Group (HSFG) builds upon the Scaling Off Grid Energy (SOGE) initiative founded by USAID, FCDO, the African Development Bank and Shell Foundation in 2018 to coordinate donor activity in the sector.By expanding the group to be more inclusive of other funders (donors & investors) in the sector the HSFG aims to accelerate access to energy (SDG7) through collaboration on activities which address market barriers and benefit from a collective approach.

The HSFG will focus on energy access solutions and products which support clean and efficient energy access for households and associated economic activities, focusing on Africa and including:

• Energy generation and lighting (solar lanterns, pico solar, solar home systems up to 350 Wp)
• Appliances and productive use devices able to be powered by such solar home systems

“Collaboration will help in providing energy access to currently unserved populations and is needed to protect and expand the impact achieved to date by the sector,” said Wim Jonker Klunne, HSFG coordinator.

“We have identified a number of key priority areas where its members can work together to amplify impact.”

Working groups have been established to address:

• Supporting locally-owned and/or managed solar companies to grow and scale
• The role of public finance in private sector delivery of energy services (particularly to low-income customers)
• The role of productive use of energy in the household solar sector

More information on the HSFG can be obtained from by emailing Wim at wim@hsfg.africa.