ADOPTION OF SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY IN RURAL ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF EAST HARARGE ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

The shortage of electricity in Ethiopia creates a huge gap between demand and supply, making individuals and organizations look for alternatives to obtain regular supply of power. Ethiopia has a vast potential for renewable energy resources like solar energy that have not fully utilized. Although solar energy is abundant, accessible, affordable, and ecologically and environmentally friendly, in rural Ethiopia the majority of households are still using pollutant kerosene for lighting. It is important to understand the demand and supply-side factors affecting adoption of technology. For this purpose, this study investigates the factors influencing household adoption of the solar energy technology (SET).: The data used for the econometric model was collected from randomly selected 256 solar energy adopter and 129 non- adopter households in three districts (Babile, Haramaya and Kersa) in east Hararghe zone, Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. The logistic regression model was applied to examine the factors affecting households’ decision to adopt SET. First identify the factor affecting the adoption of solar PV system among rural household in Eastern Ethiopia. The finding of this study shows significant variation in many of the socioeconomic, institutional and demographic characteristics between adopters and non-adopters. The result of the binary logistic regression model indicated that as wealth of a household increase, their propensity to adopt solar home system also increases. Likewise, house type, household size, numbers of cattle, educational level of the household head, access to training and credit, and distance from grid positively correlated with the probability of adoption. On the other hand, age, access to electricity, the cost (price) of solar energy, the distance from market and infrastructure were negatively associated with the adoption of SET.: Therefore, policy measures should create awareness through training, education, the zero tax on importation of solar energy and improving the economic status of households to enhance adoption of the solar energy technology