Awareness of stand-alone solar (SAS) products has increased in Mozambique, with 68 per cent of respondents in a 2019 study reporting they had heard of solar products. A further 22 per cent of households could afford solar home systems (SHS) without any financial assistance. A survey of six active SAS companies showed total sales figures of 21,252 units in 2019, and 46,802 units in 2020, demonstrating that the sales figures have doubled. In terms of productive use of solar, Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) reported that 2,843 solar powered appliances were sold between July 2019 and June 2020. Currently Solarworks and Digitech are the only companies selling solar productive use systems, but other companies have shown interest.
The major challenges that have been relayed by market stakeholders are the lack of adequate funding for the high-risk off-grid sector, especially from local commercial financing institutions, the lack of specific legislation, especially to alleviate the tax burden on the growing market. Currently, only two financing schemes are being implemented in the SAS sector by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the German Development Bank (KfW), through the Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI). It is expected that the revised Electricity Law and the Off-Grid Energy Regulation will help address these barriers.