Overview of solar thermal technology development and applications in West Africa: Focus on hot water and its applications

Abstract

Solar thermal technologies can help alleviate the sustainable energy access challenge in West Africa by offering complimentary solutions to reduce dependency on wood and fossil fuels. This paper provides a comprehensive regional overview of the water-based solar heating technology sector in West Africa in order to identify crucial factors that could boost a successful deployment of solar water heating systems in the region. Emphasis is placed on solar water heaters (SWHs), solar sorption refrigeration and solar heat for industrial process. The article summarizes the salient characteristics of widely used technological solutions and offers an understanding of the development and applications of solar water heating technology in the region. The review includes trends and research focusing on market, technologies, local manufacturing and policies, and shows that solar water heating potential remains scarcely exploited, with different status in different countries in the region. There are mostly thermosiphon systems with very few pumped systems. Industrial applications are practically inexistent, including concentrated solar heat. Finally, problems lying in the solar thermal sector in West Africa are analysed and measures for solving the problems are suggested.

Keywords

• Solar thermal energy
• Solar water heater
• West Africa
• Local manufacture
• Renewable energy policy