Uganda National Bureau of Standards, UNBS, has told the business community to ensure that their solar energy products, mainly the home-use equipment, are off the market by July unless they conform to the newly gazetted standards.
The
leaders of solar energy equipment importers and distributors have lauded the new
standards amidst protests by the traders over the July 1 deadline.
Uganda
National Bureau of Standards, UNBS, has told the business community to ensure
that their solar energy products, mainly the home-use equipment, are off the market
by July, unless they conform to the newly gazetted standards.
This follows a public outcry on poor quality solar products flooding the market. The standard now provides baseline requirements for quality, durability and truth
in advertising to protect consumers of off-grid renewable energy products in
general.
Some of the requirements
include; truth in advertising, where all advertised features must be clear,
true and accurate, and in the English language. For lights, after 100
days, the bulb must give at least 90 per cent of the lighting power it has on
manufacture, while a gadget must not break when dropped on a concrete surface
from one metre above.
The standard also
requires that all components be able to fit in other gadgets. For example,
plugs must fit into sockets of the same gadget type. The standard was
developed following years of lobbying, according to the Uganda Solar Energy Association,
USEA, to respond to the complaints by customers over the quality of the
products.
However, as UNBS launched sensitization
campaigns to prepare the business community for the impending
enforcement of the standards, several traders said that the
July 1 deadline, is too soon for them to have cleared their stock.
But the Deputy Executive
Director Patricia Bageine Ejalu says they have been engaging the business community
since late last year, adding that it is a usual response whenever a notice of
enforcement is announced.
//Cue in; “The truth is…
Cue out…starting July.”//
Kampala City Traders
Association, KACITA, Chairman Everest Kayondo welcomes the development, saying
the standards were long overdue. He advises the traders
who are worried about their products or any other issue regarding
the move by UNBS, to approach the Bureau or the Trade Minister because there is
still some room for amendments.
//Cue in; “The approach
is…
Cue
out…described today.”//
Other traders asked for
possible compensation for goods that may be taken off the market if they were
imported and put on sale before the standard was gazetted. UNBS Manager Standards
Development, Andrew Othieno says that it is possible that the government will come in to
mitigate the losses where possible.
He cites an example where
a product is labelled a certain watt capacity, which could be found to be of fewer watts. In such a case, the trader can be told to re-label the package with
the correct specifications.
Emmy Kimbowa, the Chairman
of the solar dealer’s association, USEA, says the lack of the standards was
affecting the business and that introducing and enforcing the standards will
increase customer confidence and expand the market.
//Cue in; “It’s not like…
Cue out…solar energy
sector.”//
The move is part of the
efforts to ensure that the country’s 60 per cent access to modern energy is attained by
2040, with at least 30 per cent of this being off-grid solutions especially solar. However, the Rural Electrification
Agency, REA says it would be difficult for this to happen especially if the
rural communities, for which the small solar energy products are targeted, are
suffering from poor quality services.
Kayondo calls
for more resources for UNBS because currently, the agency cannot effectively
monitor and prevent the influx of substandard products, according to him.
