Negotiating Energy Resilience: Lived Experiences of Household Solar Use in Urban Zambia

Household solar photovoltaic technologies are used to manage unreliable electricity, yet ownership does not necessarily translate into adequate or equitable energy services. This study explored how households in Chelstone Residential Area, Lusaka, Zambia, experience and interpret solar-energy use in everyday life, with particular attention to social relationships, household meanings, practical usefulness, and material constraints. A qualitative interpretivist design informed by hermeneutic and social phenomenology was used. The empirical dataset comprised 20 individual in-depth interview records and five focus group discussion transcripts documenting 10 respondents in each group. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis for detailed within-case interpretation, with reflexive thematic analysis used to organize cross-case patterns. Participants described prolonged load shedding, electricity expenditure, and disruption of household routines as important contexts for solar use. Solar supported lighting, refrigeration, communication, children's study, household security, and some livelihood activities, while users also described reduced worry and greater control over energy availability. Social learning through neighbors, friends and workmates shaped both acquisition and everyday utilization. However, social influence was ambivalent: positive demonstrations and recommendations increased confidence, whereas warnings about batteries, rain, product quality and installation created uncertainty. Solar ownership also carried social meanings, including admiration, aspiration and perceptions of wealth. Benefits remained conditional on affordability, system capacity, battery performance, maintenance and weather. The study develops the concept of negotiated household energy resilience to describe a situated and unequal capacity to sustain valued household activities during grid disruption. The findings indicate that household solar policy and market interventions should assess service quality, system adequacy, and lived outcomes rather than ownership alone