Stanbic Bank Uganda’s solar installation at Mbale School for the Deaf highlights how renewable energy can protect learning time, as electricity reliability and the cost of maintaining systems remain important considerations for schools.
At Mbale School for the Deaf, darkness can interrupt more than an evening study session. For learners who rely on visual communication, adequate lighting is essential to communicating with teachers and fellow students.
The school’s main hall serves as both a dining area and an evening study space, where students study between 7pm and 9pm. When electricity goes off, learners face difficulties continuing their evening activities because communication depends heavily on visibility.
A hybrid solar power system donated by Stanbic Bank Uganda is intended to address that challenge by providing an alternative source of electricity when grid power is unavailable.
The intervention comes as Uganda expands its use of solar energy, from household lighting systems to commercial power generation. Yet the country’s experience also demonstrates that expanding electricity access and ensuring a dependable supply are different challenges.
For schools, that distinction matters. Electricity must be available when learners need it, and the infrastructure supplying it must remain functional long after installation.
Solar energy is gaining ground in Uganda as households, businesses and institutions look for alternatives to conventional electricity and ways to extend access to power.
A September 2026 market report by GOGLA, the global association for the off-grid solar energy industry, found that Uganda’s electricity access had increased from approximately 11% in 2010 to around 60% in 2025. Standalone solar home systems accounted for 13% of national electricity access, according to the report.
The figures illustrate the role solar is playing in reaching households that might otherwise remain without electricity. The report also highlights the continuing gap between urban and rural areas: electricity access stood at approximately 80% in urban areas in 2025, compared with about 43% in rural areas.
Off-grid solar sales also increased substantially. GOGLA reported that annual sales rose from approximately 280,000 units in 2020 to nearly 707,000 in 2025, reflecting growing demand and support mechanisms such as results-based financing. These figures refer to off-grid solar products, rather than solar installations at schools specifically.
Electricity generation from solar is expanding too, although it remains a relatively small component of Uganda’s overall generation capacity.
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) reported that Uganda’s total installed electricity-generation capacity reached 2,098.2 megawatts by December 2025, an increase of 54% from 1,361.6MW in 2021. Renewable energy accounted for 95.2% of installed capacity, with hydropower contributing 82.1%, bagasse 9% and solar 4.2%.
The distinction is important. Uganda’s electricity system is already dominated by renewable energy, particularly hydropower, but solar has room to expand its contribution to the national supply.
Meanwhile, standalone solar systems can serve a different purpose from large solar plants feeding electricity into the grid. They can provide power directly to homes, schools and businesses, including facilities that need a local backup supply.
For an institution such as Mbale School for the Deaf, the immediate question is not how much solar contributes nationally. It is whether the system can supply sufficient electricity during the hours when students need it.
The importance of that question becomes clearer when Uganda’s school infrastructure is considered.
A 2026 UNICEF assessment of schools in Uganda found that approximately half of the schools surveyed had reliable electricity throughout the school day. About 17% operated entirely outside the national grid, relying on alternatives such as solar panels and generators.
The assessment also found that more than a third of the schools surveyed lacked internet access, while only about 12% had connectivity across their entire campuses. Approximately a quarter were considered ready for information and communications technology, meaning they had electricity, computers and internet connectivity.
These findings show that electricity provision remains an important part of the infrastructure required to support modern education. Even where schools have access to power, reliability and the availability of other resources determine how effectively they can use it.
Electricity supports classroom lighting, computer laboratories, digital learning, preparation of teaching materials and study outside normal classroom hours. Interruptions can limit the use of these facilities and disrupt school routines.
At Mbale School for the Deaf, the implications are particularly immediate. The school relies on adequate lighting to support visual communication, including interactions involving sign language.
Esther Akuku, the school’s headteacher, said the solar system would help improve academic performance by ensuring that light remained available when grid electricity went off at night.
Her account illustrates why electricity planning should consider the specific needs of an institution. The consequences of a power interruption are not necessarily the same in every school, particularly where learners depend on visual communication or specialised learning
According to Stanbic Bank Uganda, discussions with the school’s leadership identified reliable lighting in the main hall as one of the institution’s most pressing needs.
Tunde Thorpe, the bank’s Executive Head of Business and Commercial Banking, said the hall serves as both the dining area and evening study space, and that unreliable electricity was causing valuable learning time to be lost.
The bank said the hybrid solar system would provide clean, reliable electricity, improve the evening learning environment and reduce dependence on conventional power.
A hybrid system can combine solar generation with another electricity source, depending on its configuration. Battery storage can allow electricity generated during daylight hours to be used later, including during evening study sessions or grid interruptions.
However, the actual benefit depends on the system’s design. Its solar capacity, battery storage, the electrical loads it supports and the duration of evening demand will determine how effectively it can meet the school’s needs.
The bank’s announcement does not specify the system’s installed capacity, battery storage or the number of learners it will serve. These details are necessary to assess how much electricity the system can supply and whether it can support facilities beyond the main hall.
The installation nevertheless addresses a clearly identified need: keeping the school illuminated when grid electricity is unavailable.
For learners who depend on visual communication, dependable lighting is an important part of maintaining a suitable environment for evening study.
The growing adoption of solar technology also raises questions about affordability, maintenance and long-term performance.
Installing panels is only the beginning of an electricity project’s life. Batteries, inverters, wiring and other components require maintenance, while some equipment will eventually need replacement. If repairs are delayed or funding is unavailable, a system that initially works well may become unreliable.
This is particularly important for schools operating with limited resources. A donated system can reduce the initial cost of obtaining electricity, but the institution may still need arrangements for routine servicing, replacement components and future repairs.
The question for Mbale School for the Deaf is therefore not only whether the new system can provide lighting now, but also who will maintain it and how its performance will be monitored.
Schools considering solar installations also need to assess their electricity requirements before selecting a system. A solution designed to power lighting may not be sufficient for computer laboratories, refrigeration, water pumps or workshops that use electrical machinery.
A proper assessment of demand can help ensure that the system is appropriately sized and that expectations match its technical capabilities.
For government and private-sector partners, long-term planning is equally important. The value of an installation should be assessed through its continued operation and the services it enables, rather than the number of panels installed or the announcement accompanying the handover.
At Mbale School for the Deaf, electricity is only one of several outstanding needs.
Akuku identified additional classroom blocks, more washrooms for girls, teacher accommodation and water-harvesting tanks among the school’s priorities.
The acting district education officer for Mbale District, Joy Wamalugu, also called for improvements to water access. She said students sometimes have to leave the school premises to look for water, exposing them to risks when crossing roads because of their hearing impairment.
These concerns place the solar project within a wider conversation about the infrastructure required to provide inclusive education.
Reliable electricity can improve lighting and support learning activities, but it cannot compensate for inadequate sanitation, unsafe access to water or insufficient classroom space.
For learners with disabilities, infrastructure planning must account for how the school environment affects their participation and safety. The needs of students who rely on visual communication, for example, may differ from those of learners who depend on other forms of support.
This makes a coordinated approach important. Solar installations can address electricity gaps, while school authorities, government and development partners work on other priorities such as water, sanitation, accessible facilities and teacher support.
The intervention at Mbale therefore demonstrates both the value and the limits of a targeted infrastructure investment.
The role of private-sector investment
Stanbic Bank Uganda said the installation aligns with its Positive Impact Agenda, through which it supports women, young people and farmers, while also investing in inclusive education.
Such partnerships can help schools address specific needs that might otherwise remain unresolved. Renewable energy is one area where private-sector funding can support public institutions by financing equipment and improving access to electricity.
The effectiveness of these interventions, however, depends on whether the support produces sustained benefits.
For a school solar project, useful measures include the number of learners benefiting, the availability of electricity during evening study, the frequency of power interruptions affecting learning and the system’s performance over time.
Tracking these outcomes would help schools and their partners determine whether an installation is meeting its objectives and identify any additional support required.
It could also provide evidence for deciding whether similar systems would benefit other schools, particularly those operating beyond the national grid or experiencing frequent electricity interruptions.
For Uganda, the opportunity lies in combining the expansion of solar energy with better planning, technical assessment and maintenance arrangements. That would help ensure that investments in renewable energy deliver dependable services rather than short-lived improvements.
Uganda’s expanding solar market shows that renewable energy is becoming an increasingly important part of the country’s electricity landscape. Rising off-grid solar sales, growing electricity access and investment in generation capacity point to a market with considerable potential.
But schools need solutions designed around their actual electricity requirements. Reliable power depends on the right equipment, sufficient storage where necessary, maintenance and a clear understanding of what the system is expected to operate.
At Mbale School for the Deaf, the immediate measure of success will be whether students can continue evening study in a properly illuminated hall when grid electricity is unavailable.
The longer-term test will be whether the system remains functional, whether the school can maintain it and whether other infrastructure challenges are addressed.
Solar power cannot resolve every obstacle facing Uganda’s schools. It can, however, remove an important barrier where unreliable electricity interrupts learning.
For schools such as Mbale, that means treating electricity as essential educational infrastructure, with the investment judged by the learning conditions it sustains long after the installation is complete.
