Development of a Certification Process for Microenergy Systems
Year: 2009
Editor: Norell Bergendahl, M.; Grimheden, M.; Leifer, L.; Skogstad, P.; Lindemann, U.
Author: Kebir, Noara Zohra
Series: ICED
Section: Design Organization and Management
Page(s): 363-372
Abstract
Actually more than 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity and 2.4 billion rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating. Most of those households and small enterprises are helping themselves by using inefficient low quality appliances. They are often victims of plagiarism and suffer indirect economic impact on health and education. Consequently they are facing increasing energy costs which can come up to half of the monthly income. Access to efficient microenergy systems can therefore have a huge impact on this target group. As the high investment costs are a main barrier, microfinance institutions have been identified as an lucrative partner in the implementation process. The fact that customers ability and willingness to pay back the loan is depending on the performance of the financed microenergy system, the microfinance institutions have a high economic interest in assuring quality. This makes them to a crucial stakeholder in a certification procedure with the goal to implement efficient microenergy systems including a customer protection mechanism and impulses towards product development for the sector.
Keywords: Microenergy Systems, Micro Finance, Developing Countries, Product-Service System, Comparison and Evaluation Instruments, Certification