The Repair Mindset

Name: The Repair Mindset
Price: 57.95 AUD
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ISBN: 9781529250879

How to Fix Off-Grid Solar Power in Kenya

Declan Murray (Durham University (The Palatine Centre))

$57.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bristol University Press
23 April 2026

Development studies; Economic systems & structures; Human geography; The environment; Sustainability

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Solar power is a renewable technology with huge benefits for both the Global North and South - but with an unavoidable byproduct: waste. This book - the first to examine the off-grid solar industry in Kenya - questions the technology's sustainability and is based on ethnographic fieldwork with the independent repair workers at the sharp end of the solar revolution.

Declan Murray proposes that, rather than imposing an external blueprint, energy development projects in the Global South should adopt the approach of the 'bricoleur' - which means learning from past experiences, drawing on resources at hand and prioritising function over form. He concludes with realistic and practical solutions to the problems of solar product breakdown, disposal, repair and recycling.

By: Declan Murray (Durham University (The Palatine Centre))
Imprint: Bristol University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781529250879
ISBN 10: 1529250870
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 23 April 2026
Audience: College/higher education , General/trade , Further / Higher Education , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Declan Murray is Research Associate in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. He previously worked as a consultant in the off-grid solar industry.

Reviews for The Repair Mindset: How to Fix Off-Grid Solar Power in Kenya

'The Repair Mindset offers a long overdue, in-depth take on matters of product design and distribution which fundamentally shape the options we have as an industry when products reach the end of their life. This book is a must read for anyone investing, advising or working in the industry.' Jamie McCloskey, SolarAid 'Murray’s engaging ethnography of off-grid infrastructures shows how repair critically makes technology work, offering thoughtful alternatives to disposability in development.' Jacob Doherty, University of Edinburgh ‘This delightful ethnography not only offers a rich account of the solar industry in Kenya [but] by placing 'repair' at the centre of solar assemblages and afterlives, it also provides new ways for thinking about the possibilities of waste in developmental economies.’ Hannah Brown, Durham University