Abstract
Regionally, Southern Africa is facing many challenges with regard to the level of access to energy. The
situation is most compounded in the rural areas where poverty and lack of development are taking place at a snail
pace. In order to achieve and promote sustainable development, the use of solar energy has been regarded by the
government of Zambia and the sub-Saharan African region as the best alternative to the current energy deficit that
the region is facing. To begin with, the government of Zambia, in the last decade, has supported solar
photovoltaic energy research and development. However, the country has had challenges with achieving the set
targets of connecting 10,000 new household by 2013 and ended up reducing the target to 2500 households of
which 500 household of the proposed target was connected in 2015. This review is a desktop study of the on-going
research on the solar energy and policy analysis of Zambia. It reviews the current solar photovoltaic and
renewable energy trends in Zambia based on secondary data collected from various literatures, reports, and local
contacts. The paper also highlights some of the solar energy achievements and failures in Zambia such as the
50MW solar mini-grid with the lowest tariff of US$0.0602 unit per kilowatt-hour and as well as the efforts, the
government of Zambia has made through the help of international donors and the World Bank to scale up
initiatives. Finally, it has also discussed the Zambian government policies and initiatives to promote deployment
of solar energy technologies in the country. The review of solar photovoltaic energy is vital, as it will help the
decision makers and various stakeholders to understand the current renewable status, barriers and challenges in
Zambia and find alternative ways to overcome these challenges and barriers.