New Data Sheds New Light on Global Electrification Patterns
by Michaël Aklin Increasing access to electricity is key to improving the welfare of millions of households across the world. Fans and A/C provide much needed relief in periods of intense heat. Reading after sunset is decidedly easier and hea..
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What makes off-grid solar successful in some African countries but not in others?
By Joel Jaeger Sub-Saharan Africa has arisen as a prime market for off-grid solar devices, but the number of sales varies wildly throughout the region. Kenya has been one of the biggest success stories with more than 320,000 solar home systems..
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Unmitigated Good? Considering the Health Impacts of Lead-Acid Battery Use in Sub-Saharan Africa
by David Hamburger Off-grid energy options such as photovoltaic systems (PV) offer potential solutions to Africa’s energy challenges. However, the batteries in these systems, and similar models used in cars and stationary power supplies, car..
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Trust in Government is Essential for Subsidy Reform
by Meir Alkon Developing countries around the world maintain energy subsidies, often as an important part of putatively pro-poor social policy. These subsidies have numerous social costs including their fiscal burden and the promotion of energ..
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The importance of entrepreneurial spirit for adoption of solar microgrids
By Michaël Aklin and Patrick Bayer Solar-powered microgrids offer an appealing answer to energy poverty in the rural developing world. They are clean, flexible, and can be installed in the most remote areas. But they are also new. Cash..
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Overvaluing Participation in Groundwater Resource Management
by Joseph Jammal The generally agreed upon approach to addressing groundwater consumption has been to work through communities to implement consensus driven conservation policies. The problem is that this approach has not proven effecti..
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What Does Impact Really Mean in Energy Access?
by Johannes Urpelainen We academics tend to spoil many a good energy access party with pesky questions about “impact”. While the advocacy world often welcomes new innovations and ideas with a warm embrace and enthusiasm, academics t..
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Where technology meets policy – Uttar Pradesh’s experiment with smart-metering continues
by Raghav Anand India loses over 230 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity through its transmission & distribution networks every year – nearly enough to power the entire country of Indonesia for as long. The northern State of Uttar..
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Solar Lanterns Are Not Sexy – But They Are Popular for a Good Reason
by Johannes Urpelainen Solar lanterns lack the kind of sex appeal other distributed energy technologies tend to have. When we imagine the future of energy, we have in mind solar home systems and mini-grids that offer everything the conv..
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In Rural India, Newly Electrified Villages Lag Behind
by Daniel Thomas Since 2005, India has embarked on an ambitious rural electrification drive, most recently known as the Deendayal Upadhyay scheme. The scheme has largely been successful, electrifying nearly 20 million households below India’..
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