ABSTRACT
Of the 16 million people living in Yemen only a small minority - in particular in the rural areas - has access to electricity. Electrification through grid extension or local diesel powered mini-grids will be prohibitively expensive, take a very long time and often not provide a constant service. Health and education are sectors fundamental to the social and economic development of rural Yemen. Access to a constant and reliable source of electricity widely expands the scope and effectiveness of these sectors allowing the use of modern technology Yemen is endowed with an abundant and both over the regions as well as the seasons a pretty constant solar irradiation - in average 5.5 kWh/day/m2. Photovoltaics is a mature but yet relatively expensive technology directly converting light into electricity. To be effective the health and education facilities require a relative small, but constant and reliable supply of electricity. The both technically and economically most viable source of electricity for off-grid health and educational facilities in rural Yemen have been found to be photovoltaic power systems. The technical replication potential for such systems is estimated to many thousands of units both in sectors of health and education. Access to electricity from a photovoltaic power system for the local clinic or school staff is seen as an important motivating factor for keeping staff in the field. The local photovoltaic resource base in Yemen is in reality non-existing, and it is therefore a challenge to set up sustainable deployment of photovoltaic technology - even having initial adequate donor support. The paper describes a novel, low cost, approach by the World Bank to the deployment of photovoltaic technology in Y emen, initially for the sectors of health and education but having a wider perspective in terms of off-grid electrification.
