Independent Verification of Solar Products: EnDev Classic and Leave No One Behind

Earth Partners was the Independent Verification Agent for GIZ’s Energising Development (EnDev) programme in Uganda, confirming that solar systems reported sold under two results-based financing projects were actually sold, installed and working.

Key Facts

• EnDev was a global multi-donor partnership that expanded access to modern energy services in more than 20 countries.

• Under results-based financing, solar companies were paid incentives only for verified, eligible sales.

• Errors such as duplicated records, unreachable customers, relocated customers or fraud could make a sale ineligible, so independent checks protected the integrity of the funding.

• Verification covered households, schools and small businesses across Uganda, including hard-to-reach communities.

Focus on Credible Results

Every reported sale went through a paper trail check, and a sample was then verified by phone and in the field. We confirmed serial numbers, system size, installation quality, condition, user training, warranty handling and customer satisfaction.

Two Projects, One Process

• EnDev Classic: Worked with Equity Bank Uganda Limited to promote solar systems for schools and small businesses, including productive use appliances.

• Leave No One Behind: Brought Tier 1 solar systems to remote, mountainous and fishing communities that were often left out.

Our Approach

• Data consistency checks: Screened sales records for duplicates, gaps and errors.

• Paper trail checks: Compared records against receipts, contracts and platform data.

• Phone verification: Called a sample of customers to confirm purchase and use.

• Field verification: Visited sites to inspect systems, took GPS-tagged photos and gathered feedback.

• Reporting and validation: Produced a report for each round and each company, with findings validated with stakeholders.

Key Project Objectives

• Confirm sales: Made sure reported sales were truthful and matched serial numbers.

• Check quality: Confirmed systems were correctly installed, in good condition and met specifications.

• Support users: Assessed training, warranty follow-up and satisfaction.

• Inform payments: Gave EnDev the evidence it needed to release incentives to partner companies.

Tools and Methods

Kobo Collect on tablets and smartphones, Excel and SPSS for analysis, statistical sampling, and trained multilingual enumerators.

Project Rollout

After inception in October 2024, verification ran in up to four rounds, each completed within 10 to 15 working days. Concise reports followed rounds one to three, and a comprehensive report followed round four.