Advancing Rural Electrification in Ghana: Sustainable Solutions and Emerging Trends in Solar Energy Utilization
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Solar Energy Potential for Rural Electrification in Ghana
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Design and Approach
3.2. Population, Sample, and Sampling Technique
3.3. Data Collection Instruments and Procedures
3.4. Data Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Demographic Profile of Respondents
4.2. Electricity Access and Usage in Lofetsume
4.2.1. Electricity Gaps and Community Experiences
4.2.2. Perceptions of Solar Energy and Sustainable Solutions
4.3. Expert and Stakeholder Insights
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Demographic Questionnaire for Lofetsume Community Survey
- What is your age (in completed years)?
- What is your sex? (Male/Female/Other—please specify)
- What is the highest level of schooling you have completed? (No formal education/Primary/Junior High/Senior High/Technical or Vocational/Tertiary)
- What is your main occupation or livelihood activity? (Open response)
- Including yourself, how many people usually live and eat in your household?
- Are you the head of your household? (Yes/No)
- Does your household own, rent or occupy the dwelling you live in? (Own/Rent/Occupy without paying rent)
- What is the main type of roofing material of your house? (Thatch/Metal sheets/Tiles/Other—specify)
- How many years have you lived in Lofetsume? (Number of years)
Appendix B. Survey Questionnaires
S/N | Statement How Do You Agree/Disagree with the Statement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Access to reliable and affordable energy is important for the development of the Lofotsume Community | |||||
2. | Power outage is frequent in Lofotsume Community | |||||
3. | My energy is from a reliable source? | |||||
4. | My choice of energy is expensive | |||||
5. | My choice of energy is environmentally friendly | |||||
6. | The current energy infrastructure in my community is satisfactory. | |||||
7 | The Government should invest more in solar energy because it is readily available | |||||
8. | The energy provider should be community owned | |||||
9. | My primary source of energy is hydroelectric | |||||
11. | I limit the use of energy due to the cost | |||||
12. | There are energy related challenges in my community |
Appendix C. Expert Survey Questionnaire (Energy Stakeholders in Ghana)
Statement | Yes (1) | No (2) |
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Statements | SD (1) | D (2) | N (3) | A (4) | SA (5) | Mean | SD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. My choice of energy is expensive | 0% | 0% | 0% | 18% | 82% | 4.82 | 0.386 |
2. My choice of energy is environmentally friendly | 0% | 0% | 4% | 17% | 79% | 4.75 | 0.520 |
3. The government should invest more in solar energy because it is readily available | 0% | 0% | 0% | 38% | 62% | 4.62 | 0.488 |
4. My primary source of energy is hydroelectric | 0% | 0% | 0% | 39% | 61% | 4.61 | 0.499 |
5. There are energy-related challenges in my community | 0% | 0% | 0% | 39% | 61% | 4.61 | 0.490 |
6. Power outages are frequent in the Lofetsume community | 3% | 1% | 0% | 25% | 71% | 4.60 | 0.816 |
7. I limit the use of energy due to the cost | 0% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 56% | 4.56 | 0.490 |
8. Access to reliable and affordable electricity is important for the development of the Lofetsume community | 8% | 13% | 0% | 31% | 48% | 3.98 | 1.318 |
9. My energy is from a reliable source | 17% | 13% | 4% | 27% | 39% | 3.58 | 1.525 |
10. The current energy infrastructure in my community is satisfactory | 64% | 19% | 0% | 7% | 10% | 1.80 | 1.341 |
Statements (Sustainable Energy Focus) | SA (5) | A (4) | N (3) | D (2) | SD (1) | Mean | SD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Access to reliable and affordable energy is important for the development of Lofetsume | 48% | 31% | 0% | 13% | 8% | 4.48 | 0.76 |
Power outages are frequent in the Lofetsume community | 67% | 29% | 0% | 4% | 0% | 4.63 | 0.58 |
My energy is from a reliable source (current reliability perception) | 10% | 27% | 4% | 13% | 46% | 2.42 | 1.30 |
I limit energy use due to cost | 56% | 44% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5.00 | 0.00 |
The current energy infrastructure is satisfactory | 0% | 7% | 0% | 19% | 74% | 1.25 | 0.51 |
Government should invest more in readily available solar energy | 62% | 32% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 4.64 | 0.63 |
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Arthur, J.L.; Dziwornu, M.G.; Czapliński, P.; Rachwał, T.; Fiagbor, H.K. Advancing Rural Electrification in Ghana: Sustainable Solutions and Emerging Trends in Solar Energy Utilization. Energies 2025, 18, 3825. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143825
Arthur JL, Dziwornu MG, Czapliński P, Rachwał T, Fiagbor HK. Advancing Rural Electrification in Ghana: Sustainable Solutions and Emerging Trends in Solar Energy Utilization. Energies. 2025; 18(14):3825. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143825
Chicago/Turabian StyleArthur, Jones Lewis, Michael Gameli Dziwornu, Paweł Czapliński, Tomasz Rachwał, and Hope Kwame Fiagbor. 2025. "Advancing Rural Electrification in Ghana: Sustainable Solutions and Emerging Trends in Solar Energy Utilization" Energies 18, no. 14: 3825. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143825
APA StyleArthur, J. L., Dziwornu, M. G., Czapliński, P., Rachwał, T., & Fiagbor, H. K. (2025). Advancing Rural Electrification in Ghana: Sustainable Solutions and Emerging Trends in Solar Energy Utilization. Energies, 18(14), 3825. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143825