The PSS Quality Framework for Solar Home Systems

The use of Solar Home Systems (SHS) has shown mixed results in the last decades. In literature, 'quality' is often mentioned as an important success factor. However, the term 'quality' often stays undefined and actors have various understandings of it. The authors propose a framework for the definition of the quality of SHS with a focus on the economic benefit of the end-users and based on the concept of Product-Service Systems. In this approach, products and services are equal parameters. This enables a flexible design and dimensioning of SHS without implying a fixed set of international quality standards. Doing so, the PSS Quality Framework for SHS avoids creating preferences for products from industrialized nations and underlines the enormous potential of local manufacturing and services in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.