Rural electrification systems based on renewable energy: The social dimensions of an innovative technology

Garcia, Victoria; Bartolomé, Mercedes Montero

doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2010.10.007

Cited by 38 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…According to this view, rather than tapping into underserved consumers, grassroots innovators aspire to address problems that are essentially and primarily social [60] providing appropriate [43], socially acceptable [5] and environmentally sustainable [66] solutions. According to Gupta [67] and Fressoli et al [68], including grassroots entrepreneurship and innovation within the range of public policy would not only lead to the delivery of affordable products/services but also to the strengthening of the activity of actors such as Civil Society Organizations (CSO) [69] and NGOs [70], empower local communities [71][72][73][74][75] fill institutional voids [76,77] and promote more inclusive patterns of development [78,79].…”

Section: The Research Agenda Emerging From the Bop: Who Innovates Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Crafting Sustainable Development Solutions: Frugal Innovations of Grassroots Entrepreneurs

2016

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Abstract:A shift in the entrepreneurial landscape is taking place brought about by grassroots innovators with little formal education and technological knowhow, living and working in penurious environments. This research represents an emerging third wave of literature on Bottom of the Pyramid innovation, where products are offered for and by the underserved. Using primary and secondary data derived from four cases of grassroots entrepreneurs in the Indian Subcontinent, the study explores the phenomenon where resource scarce entrepreneurs craft solutions that are environmental friendly, with low overall ownership costs, and use locally available material. We argue that the grassroots phenomenon can be fruitfully exploited to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the UN as a post-2015 strategy for the future of global governance. These innovations might have a tremendous impact not only in terms of serving unmet and ignored consumer needs, but also longer term impacts through enhanced productivity, sustainability, poverty reduction and inclusion promotion.

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Section: The Research Agenda Emerging From the Bop: Who Innovates Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Crafting Sustainable Development Solutions: Frugal Innovations of Grassroots Entrepreneurs

2016

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“…Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations and standards) [25,27,29] or the absence of proper standards [31,32]. White et al [33] have also shown how unexpected policy changes can have negative impacts on investments and cause uncertainty.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Bangladesh for instance, training programs have been undertaken by IDCOL for creating awareness not only among the installation companies, but also among the customers [88]. Nonetheless, many off-grid PV projects worldwide became unsustainable as they ignored the importance of user know-how (e.g., [15,31,69,79,102,107,108,111,[131][132][133]). For example, in Uganda, Tillmans and Schweizer-Ries [107] reported a substantial knowledge drop in the chain of information (manufacturer-local supervisor and NGO-local solar company and user) towards the user.…”

Section: Reliabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many authors consider that ensuring the sustainability of PV systems in DC's rural areas stands for socio-cultural, rather than technological challenges [9,31,107,108,111,188]. For an energy system to be sustainable, it needs to be socially accepted, which implies the active participation and engagement of the community aimed at enhancing the accountability of the project [40,47,50,56,60,189,190].…”

Section: Social Acceptancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Féron

2016

Sustainability

109

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Abstract:A review on rural electrification programs and projects based on off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems, including Solar Pico Systems (SPS) and Solar Home Systems (SHS) in Developing Countries (DCs) was conducted. The goal was to highlight the main multidimensional drawbacks that may constrain the sustainability of these systems. Four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental and socio-cultural) were considered in this review. It was found that institutional flaws (such as the scarcity of durability/stability and enforcement of formal institutions, weak regulations or standards, incomplete decentralization/participation and the lack of institutional adaptability) seriously compromise the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. While the lack of an effective focalized subsidy scheme (e.g., cross-tariff scheme) for the electricity tariffs of the poor population often made projects economically unsustainable, the scarcity of environmental awareness, regulations or incentives has often turned presumably clean energy technologies into environmentally unsustainable projects. Progress regarding social acceptance, accuracy and cultural justice is urgently needed for ensuring the socio-cultural sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. This review may help stakeholders to identify and (based on prior experiences) address the most severe drawbacks affecting the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs.

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“…While informal institutions include religious or moral values and traditions [19], formal institutions comprise laws, regulations, and standards meant to correct market failures and protect individual rights [20]. Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations, and standards) [21][22][23], or the absence of proper standards (e.g., [24,25]). Therefore, strengthened formal institutions are considered to be essential for rural electrification [21][22][23]26,27].…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?

2016

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Abstract:In this paper, we assess the sustainability of rural electrification programs in Ecuador, paying special attention to programs targeting small indigenous communities in the Amazon basin. Our assessment considers four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental, and socio-cultural) and is based on an exhaustive qualitative document analysis, complemented by semi-structured expert interviews. We found that disruptive changes have affected the electrification policies in Ecuador during decades of avoiding the development of strengthened institutions. Despite this major drawback, we found that there is a consensus on granting access to energy for all. This partially explains the national efforts, persistent through different administrations to fund rural electrification. However, in the case of off-grid photovoltaic solutions, these efforts have consistently neglected allocating funds for operation and maintenance, which has seriously compromised the sustainability. Moreover, although Ecuadorian officials declared to favor stand-alone photovoltaic systems in the case of indigenous communities in the Amazon, we found that environmental or socio-cultural aspects have a minor role in the selection of these systems. Progress regarding environmental awareness, social acceptance, and cultural justice, is still needed for ensuring the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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Rural electrification systems based on renewable energy: The social dimensions of an innovative technology

Cited by 38 publications

References 10 publications

Crafting Sustainable Development Solutions: Frugal Innovations of Grassroots Entrepreneurs

Crafting Sustainable Development Solutions: Frugal Innovations of Grassroots Entrepreneurs

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?

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