- Geographical Fragmentation: Stringing a national power grid across hundreds of islands separated by vast stretches of ocean is technically challenging and prohibitively expensive.
- Unreliable Main Grid: Even in areas with a grid, it suffers from instability, load-shedding (scheduled blackouts), and frequent unscheduled outages due to aging infrastructure, natural disasters (like cyclones), and high demand.
- High Cost of Alternatives: While solar power is becoming increasingly popular, the initial investment for a system large enough to power a business or a whole household 24/7 is still high for most Solomon Islanders. Gensets offer a lower upfront cost.
- Fuel Dependency: The country is heavily reliant on imported diesel and petrol. While this makes operating a genset expensive, it is currently the most accessible and reliable technology.