Clean energy and extreme poverty: The cost burden of donated solar home lighting systems

Abstract

People living in extreme poverty may not be able to afford donated solar home lighting systems. These systems improve quality of life but they may not lift people out of poverty. Users must participate in savings programs, maintain savings themselves, or be able to arrange credit to pay for substantial future costs, such as battery replacement. The monthly savings needed for component replacement in typical solar home systems is less than many rural households spent on candles or other lighting sources before the system was installed, reducing energy costs. However, some households cannot always afford to buy traditional lighting sources. In these cases, the solar home system may increase their energy cost burdens or force the systems to fail when components need replacement.Before implementing home lighting programs in poor communities, sponsors must realistically assess households' ability to pay the ongoing system costs necessary. If households will not be saving money by using solar lighting, the development agenda should be reviewed to determine if the provision of electricity is the most urgent need. Index Terms-Solar energy, Photovoltaic power systems, Rural areas1 Data about Guatemalan SHS, programs that install them, and their users are taken from an unpublished study I conducted between August 2008 and December 2008, including a series of 153 interviews with beneficiaries and donors. Forty-three communities and projects that have or had donated SHS, microhydroelectric systems, or other small solar energy applications were included.

A Study on Low Cost Electrification Using Solar Energy a Field Work

“…For transmission, UG cables were used. The batteries require replacement and the local government was assigned the responsibility for it with the residents paying them monthly [7], [8].…”

Rural electrification in India and pre-sizing of solar home systems

“…People living in extreme poverty may not be able to afford donated solar home lighting systems. These systems improve quality of life but they may not lift people out of poverty [8]. II Rural electrification in India has the following key features.…”