The Perspectives and Realities of Energy Use Among Urban Poor in Accra and Tamale in Ghana: Towards Clean Energy Infrastructure Development

Purpose: This study investigates the perspectives and realities of energy use among the urban poor in Accra and Tamale. The objective is to uncover the willingness of the urban poor to use solar energy and their solar energy infrastructural needs. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study employed a mixed-method approach. Purposive sampling was used to select four urban poor communities. Multi-stage sampling was used to sample 440 households. 12 respondents were interviewed and 8 FGDs were conducted in the four communities. Descriptive statistics and ordinary regression in SPSS version 21 were used to analyze the quantitative responses and content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative information. Findings: The study found that most of the respondents use charcoal for cooking (66%) followed by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (21%), fuelwood (11%), and electricity (2%). Respondents indicated that they use electricity (78%) mostly for lighting and gas (22%) as their alternative lighting source. However, most respondents are willing to use solar energy and prefer mostly solar-powered cooking stoves, solar kiosks, solar-powered generators, and solar lanterns. Practical implications: The interest of the urban poor to use cleaner forms of energy such as solar can support the planning and implementation of solar infrastructure projects. This can contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions. Social implications: The solar-powered infrastructure that the urban poor are willing to use can be produced which can also enhance job creation, training and skills development in the production of solar-powered products. Originality/value: This work has contributed to the knowledge of solar energy infrastructure for the urban poor.