Photovoltaic marketing in developing countries

Photovoltaic (PV) insolation-harnessing is acknowledged as the most practical economic solution to meet the requirements of one hundred million people without electricity in the developing countries. Industrialized countries in particular, have been active in utilizing such technologies because they can afford the current peak watt prices of US $3-15 for such systems. The market in those countries will soon be close to saturation and attention by suppliers will have to be shifted to the already established larger market in less developed countries (LDCs). PV marketing in these developing countries, i.e. ability to penetrate the potential market, is facing tremendous hurdles. This paper reviews the present status and future directions of the PV market in developing countries as well as discusses the current technical, social, financial or geopolitical barriers and constraints, which are making this market difficult at present. Possible policy frameworks are also proposed which are in line with the trends in the world. The paper concludes by making a global policy package proposal, in terms of an appeal on the global community concerned with PV to propagate this proposal more convincingly, perhaps to emanate from an internationally recognized forum, like a PV conference and exhibition, with cooperation and participation of PV manufacturers, suppliers, industrialized countries, NGOs, financial institutions and developing countries, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.