Energy Transitions for the Rural Community in Kenya's Central Highlands: Small Scale Solar Powered Systems

AbstractThis paper explores Kenya's central highlands rural community's sources of energy choices’ in the last three decades. The paper tracks the changes in sources of energy (firewood, charcoal, kerosene, car battery and dry cells) up to the option of using the solar homes systems. In Kenya, the demand for clean energy for both industrial and domestic activities is on the rise. Currently, the energy for the industries and urban areas is derived largely from petroleum and hydroelectric power. On the other hand, for the low-income earning rural community in the Kenya's central highlands, firewood is however the major source of energy for most domestic activities. Considering that arid and semi-arid regions constitute over 80% of the country, the demand for firewood for instance impacts the natural ecosystems and disrupts the natural nutrient cycling