Kenya’s electricity distributor Kenya Power plans to join the solar business in a bid to reclaim its electricity territory as many of its customers make the switch to solar panels.

Kenya Power is planning to install solar panels in private homes and office blocks across the country to fit in with the trends promising its customers cheap and uninterrupted electricity.

This comes as many households and industries have in the last five years turned to solar as a more reliable and cheaper option away Kenya Power’s costlier supply prone to interruptions.

“Consumers will benefit from cheaper solar energy generated during sunny hours,” the company said in an internal document.

The Company, in the document, seeks to repair its dented image caused by power supply interruptions.

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“The solar plants will include storage with minimum autonomy to cancel out effect of short-duration supply interruptions which has been a major cause of concern among some commercial and industrial customers,” the document went on.

The power distributor intends to look for clients in need of solar panels in their homes and will hire private companies for execution through a design-build-finance and operate (DBFO) model.

Kenya Power will then sell the power generated to owners of homes and office blocks hosting the solar panels at a discounted rate and sell excess power to adjacent homes and businesses.

The company in November raised alarm over a significant number of its major customers opting to generate their own solar power and, in the process, eating into its fast-declining revenues.

Industrial customers in Kenya account for 45 percent of Kenya Power’s total revenue.