In an ongoing research project, a 'three-step-approach' is used to study rural electrification and the use of a small PV-diesel grid at a community centre in Ihushi, Tanzania. The paper gives some preliminary results from the current research. It also describes the three steps of investigation by which social actors are identified, cultural change studied, and long-term feasibility evaluated. As an answer to the critique of the 'drivers-and-barriers' concepts, we suggest this model as a way of capturing the dynamic and long-term aspects of implementation processes and of adding a more culturally informed stance to actor oriented research.