Operation is set for July, Blom says. The panels and trackers are in transit by ship from China to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from where they will be trucked 1,500 km to the solar site. There have been some logistical hangups—pole-rammers for securing the trackers, unavailable locally, were transported from Europe—but, overall, work is going smoothly.

Grid-connected solar projects are just getting started in this part of the world, say Cédric Philibert, a renewable-energy analyst at the International Energy Agency. Much more common is "off-grid" solar—small-scale rooftop or village-based kits for, among other uses, lighting, TV and refrigeration—largely brought in by international non-governmental organizations. “It’s because there are many weak grids there,” he says.

But there are some 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lacking consistent access to electricity. But that is on the verge of changing, Philibert says. With several solar projects under way in South Africa, a large one planned for Ghana, and Ethiopia and Morocco both tipped for future work, photovoltaics will be one tool shouldering the load.