National Energy Planner Ministry of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources

PV lighting systems can make an important contribution to improving the sustainability of energy service delivery for communities in developing countries that do not have access to the electricity grid. However this may not be the case unless a holistic approach is taken to considering economic, environmental, social and technical sustainability. This paper reviews experiences with PV lighting systems in the remote Tongan islands and identifies weaknesses in the way in which the systems were designed, installed and managed, and in the institutional framework within which the project was undertaken. It makes recommendations based on the most successful adopted rural electrification model known as “Incorporated Society Model” applicable to Tonga and other developing nations. The model was designed to facilitate the PV lighting project funded by France and Australia in 2001 through SPC, Noumea and being locally modified and used widely in the Kingdom’s rural electrification programme