In this thesis I study the impact of electrification using solar photovoltaic panels in the rural Ecuadorian community of Las Balsas. Many large-scale development organizations like the World Bank promote small-scale renewable energy technologies like solar photovoltaics as being crucial in helping poor rural communities generate more income. My research however, both in the field and in the literature, shows income generation from these projects tends to be minimal. I find that the introduction of solar electrification is most important for social applications like music, movies, cell phones, and lighting. FEDETA, the NGO that installed the solar photovoltaics, promotes the development project not as a neoliberal market-based income-generation project, but rather as a humanistic improvement in the “quality of life” of local residents. I analyze this goal of the project in light of the development theories developed over the past few decades. I question how well solar photovoltaics fits into the “small is beautiful” appropriate technology sector. While solar photovoltaic systems have the potential to build small-scale islands of autonomous electricity production in a more environmentally sustainable manner than grid electricity based on fossil fuels, I caution that this is not necessarily the most equitable way to provide electricity to the rural poor in developing countries. While solar home systems have much potential to provide (often minimal amounts of) electricity to extremely rural areas, the service provided is in many cases inferior to grid electricity. While solar photovoltaic technology does provide many potential benefits in areas not reached by grid electricity, NGOs and policy makers should be wary of seeing the technology as a panacea for sustainable development. Solar photovoltaics as a technology has a long way to go to provide energy services comparable to that offered by most grid systems. As with any technology its actual use is not predetermined, but rather is influenced by the local social and cultural contexts. / text

Energy poverty – the circumstance of depending on low quality fuels and inefficient end-uses, or conversely, the lack of access to modern energy services – is one of the defining global issues of our time. Access to electricity is essential to eradicating energy poverty and empowering individuals, communities and economies, to reach their potential. Globally, 1.3 billion people, mainly in less developed countries, lack access to electricity. While central grid extension often provides electricity at very low cost, the reliability of the central grid in less developed countries is so low that the priority given by policy makers to central grid extension must be questioned. Rather than maximizing the extent of often unreliable or simply unenergized central grid extensions, we demonstrate the imperative to consider a multi-track approach to electricity access that includes microgrids and high quality solar lighting products. Through case studies and modeling efforts based on extensive empirical data, we provide new insight to this imperative and elucidate the nature of the challenges and solutions for microgrids to eradicate energy poverty.

In addition to being one of the poorest countries in Africa, Tanzania is considered the 13th most vulnerable nation in the world to climate change and climate variability. Currently over 63% of Tanzanians have no access to the national power grid. Instead they rely on biomass and kerosene lamps to provide energy in their homes. In addition, rural youth in Tanzania have limited occupational pursuits other than subsistence farming (both formal and informal). Utilizing a case study approach, this research qualitatively explores the effects of energy access in the form of solar PV for those seeking to secure this public good at a household-level. Face-to-face interviews conducted in the coastal region of Tanzania concentrated on understanding rationales for adopting off-grid energy (adoption rationales), particularly respondent's 'Awareness', 'Motivation' and selected 'Pathways' (the AMP Framework). High rates of rural poverty highlight systemic lack of energy access in Tanzania. In contrast, livelihood transformations through solar PV were observed in the case to couple with energy access. Indicators of improvement in living standards were observed to have cascading influence on other adopters which, in turn, encouraged further uptake. This innovative adoption lead to decreased pressure on the surrounding ecosystems, but environmental factors did not influence initial adoption rationales. Reflecting on the findings, the author develops a framework for better understanding of the role private actors take in transitions from to off-grid energy access in Africa. Reflecting on the case observations, particularly how respondents sought shape the flow of events independent, and sometimes in spite of, the State, the framework extends current understandings of nodes of change in rural communities and provides a more extensive exploration of behavioural theories (the AMP Framework and Diffusion Theory). Novel connections are made conceptually with emerging nodes of change and decision-making theories of change to provide fresh extension of these approaches to understanding poverty arrangements in Africa and what researchers and decision makers might need to consider for targeted interventions towards universal energy access on the continent. The thesis concludes with a range of principles for energy access in Africa distilled from the observations and framework developed. They include environmental principles of sustainable resource management and socioecological balance, social principles of equality and participation, and economic principles of access and stability.

This thesis investigates the engineering economics of interventions to reduce consumer inconvenience due to unreliable electricity supply in rural India. The work introduces and applies a novel approach to estimate interruption costs as loss in consumer surplus due to restricted consumption of electricity services. Chapter 2 reports an assessment that compares grid extension with distributed generation (DG) alternatives, based on the subsidies they will necessitate, and costs of service interruptions that are appropriate in the rural Indian context. Despite the inclusion of interruption costs, standalone DG does not appear to be competitive with grid extension at distances of less than 17 km. However, backing up unreliable grid service with local DG plants is attractive when reliability is very poor, even in previously electrified villages. Introduction of energy efficient lighting changes these economics, and the threshold for acceptable grid unreliability significantly reduces. Chapter 3 analyzes supply rostering (alternatively, “load shedding”) in metropolitan, small town and rural feeders in and around Bangalore city. The inequity in load shedding is analyzed through transfers due to differential tariffs between the urban and rural residential consumers, and the relief provided to BESCOM, through avoided procurement of additional supply from generators, because rural and small town feeders are load shed higher than Bangalore city. The values of the load shedding transfers are estimated to be in the range of Rs. 120-380/consumer-year from the rural consumers, and Rs. 220- 370/consumer-year from the small town consumers. The metropolitan consumers are found to be net beneficiaries. The viability of using smart meters to provide current limited but uninterrupted supply is investigated as one alternative to outright blackouts. Chapter 4 develops a broader theoretical framework that can be used to model consumer demand for electricity services with unreliable supply and adaptation. Demand for energy ‘services’ is modeled by incorporating time of use, duration and deferability. Supply reliability is disaggregated into its constituent dimensions– mean and variance of supply availability in times of high demand, and supply predictability, and their respective impacts on consumer welfare are discussed. Primary data collected from Karnataka inform the discussion, especially with backup adoption. New consumer-oriented reliability indices are proposed.

Yes / Energy poverty, understood as the lack of access to adequate and sufficient energy services, constitutes a severe development problem for the African continent. Even though several policies and alleviation measures have been implemented in the last few decades, African countries still face multiple challenges. Therefore, this paper aims to identify these challenges related to energy poverty alleviation in Africa and the suitable solutions to address them. Using a mixed methods approach, involving a bibliometric analysis and a survey of involved actors, the study identifies the current constraints, obstacles and measures to address the problem in African countries. Findings point out to governance-related issues, including corruption and poor policy implementation, as the most indicated reasons for energy poverty in Africa, more than technological, financial, and policy issues. The results also confirm the fact that energy poverty has various roots and addressing it needs to take into account challenges related to outdated infrastructure, limited accessibility, and high prices. Moreover, there is often a lack of awareness about the benefits of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient practices, which suggests research in this field is also needed. The novelty of this study resides in the fact that it reviews the literature on the topic, describes its variables associated with the problem, and presents the views and perspectives from people familiar with the topic. The insights from this research can inform policymakers and infrastructure planners, helping them to prioritise investments and design interventions that address the root causes of energy poverty and its various manifestations. / Andrea Gatto wishes to acknowledge funding from the Internal Faculty Start-Up Research Grant of Wenzhou-Kean University Project No. ISRG2023014. This paper is part of the "100 papers to accelerate climate change mitigation and adaptation " initiative led by the International Climate Change Information and Research Programme (ICCIRP).

Nowadays about 1.2 billion people in world lack modern access to electricity, with the majority of them living in rural areas in low-income and developing contexts. This research addresses the issue of energy access by investigating the design of sustainable business models, and in particular by exploring the combination of Product-Service Systems (PSS) with Distributed Renewable Energy systems (DRE). The combination of PSS and DRE represents a new design approach to explore promising business models for energy access and to deliver clean and affordable solutions in low-income contexts. The overall aim of this research is to explore the applications of PSS and DRE in low-income and developing contexts, thus defining characteristics of these models, their variables and critical factors. Additionally, this research aims at developing a support for companies, practitioners and other stakeholders for designing sustainable PSS applied to DRE, with a specific focus on the idea generation phase of new solutions. The first part of this PhD resulted in the development of a classification system for PSS applied to DRE, in the identification of 15 Archetypal Models and in the collection of critical factors to successfully implement these models. Then, these findings have been translated into three tools for designing PSSs applied to DRE: the Innovation Map, the Design Framework and Cards, the Energy System Map. These tools have been tested, refined and evaluated through a series of iterative applications in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and the UK. Through the testing activities, which involved a wide range of companies, NGOs, practitioners and experts, the usefulness, usability and completeness of the tools were demonstrated. This research concludes with reflections on the design process for different scenarios of applications and by highlighting further research activities for the field of PSS applied to DRE in low-income and developing contexts.

This study examines the adoption of clean cooking technologies in developing countries with a focus on the ACE-1 advanced biomass stove (ABS). Marginalized communities in rural environments are often exposed to high levels of Household Air Pollution (HAP) due to the common use of traditional cookstoves. The United Nations (UN) has recognized the adoption of clean cooking technology like the ABS as a key driver and high-impact opportunity in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nonetheless, the context for adoption is complex. Adoption depends on numerous variables, that can enable or hinder the uptake of modern cookstoves. This study is based on the assumption, that adoption starts with the decision-making process and acquisition of the stove. Based on a field study in rural Cambodia, this research focuses on users at the initial stage of adoption. By means of questionnaire-based interviews, this study identifies how variables related to ‘fuel and technology’ and ‘household and setting’ affect the likeliness of adoption and what opportunities can be identified to facilitate the process of adoption. The study finds, that ABS-suitable biomass fuels are available and accessible in rural Cambodia. Besides, the production of renewable biomass fuels like pellets is growing, which provides opportunities for collaboration with stove distributors. The study confirms the common practice of stove stacking and points out the strong market presence of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stoves. Market activities need to consider these factors and highlight the competitive advantages of AB, namely fuel efficiency and cost savings. Finally, the impact of social influence and peer relations should be further researched and taken into consideration for sales and marketing activities.

Expanding access to electricity is central to development in East Africa but massive increases in investment are required to achieve universal access. Private sector participation in electrification is essential to meeting electricity access targets. Policy makers have acknowledged that grid extension in many remote rural areas is not as cost effective as decentralized alternatives such as microgrids. Microgrid companies have been unable to scale beyond pilot projects due in part to challenges in raising capital for a business model that is perceived to be risky. This thesis aims to identify and quantify the primary sources of investment risk in microgrid utilities and study ways to mitigate these risks to make these businesses more viable. Two modeling tools have been developed to this end. The Stochastic Techno-Economic Microgrid Model (STEMM) models the technical and financial performance of microgrid utilities using uncertain and dynamic inputs to permit explicit modeling of financial risk. This model is applied in an investment risk assessment and case study in Rwanda. Key findings suggest that the most important drivers of risk are fuel prices, foreign exchange rates, demand for electricity, and price elasticity of demand for electricity. The relative importance of these factors is technology dependent with demand uncertainty figuring stronger for solar and high solar penetration hybrid systems and fuel prices driving risk in diesel power and low solar penetration hybrid systems. Considering uncertainty in system sizing presents a tradeoff whereby a decrease in expected equity return decreases downside risk. High solar penetration systems are also found to be more attractive to lenders. The second modeling tool leverages electricity consumption and demographic data from four microgrids in Tanzania to forecast demand for electricity in newly electrified communities. Using statistical learning techniques, improvements in prediction performance was achieved over the historical mean baseline. I have also identified important predictors in estimating electricity consumption of newly connected customers. These include tariff structures and prices, preconnection sources of electricity and lighting, levels of spending on electricity services and airtime, and pre-connection appliance ownership. Prior exposure to electricity, disposable income, and price are dominant factors in estimating demand.

Energy access has gained a lot of attention following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which under Goal 7 emphasizes the access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Energy is central in addressing the major global challenges of the 21st century, including poverty, climate change, famine to mention but a few; and yet a large number of people especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still lack access to modern energy, such as electricity, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for lighting and cooking respectively. Initiatives have been taken at an international, regional and national level to address the issue of energy access, however, the problem continues to escalate in SSA. SSA countries have common energy challenges which could be tackled with common efforts through regional cooperation. Achieving cooperative outcomes can be difficult among countries on a bilateral basis. In this regard, the employment of a broader multi-country framework which can be utilized through the existing regional organizations and international organizations might be expected to lead to greater cooperation in the energy sector. This possibility is the springboard for the present research. In this thesis, I identify the key regional energy cooperative mechanisms employed by SSA regional organizations and ask whether these are efficient for tackling the challenge of energy access. The primary contribution of this work is to establish and propose a new method which could be employed by SSA regional bodies in both regulatory and infrastructural energy cooperative mechanisms to ensure that regional efforts are enhanced at the national level to tackle energy access and climate change challenges. I also propose a new definition of energy access which could be employed by regional and international organizations. This is much more than a matter of improving stipulative definitions: it is intended to contribute positively to an ongoing debate on the meaning of energy access and what such access entails.

Although development organizations agree that reliable access to energy and energy services-one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals-is likely to have profound and perhaps disproportionate impacts on women, few studies have directly empirically estimated the impact of energy access on women's empowerment. This is a result of both a relative dearth of energy access evaluations in general and a lack of clarity on how to quantify gender impacts of development projects. Here we present an evaluation of the impacts of the Solar Market Garden-a distributed photovoltaic irrigation project-on the level and structure of women's empowerment in Benin, West Africa. We use a quasi-experimental design (matched-pair villages) to estimate changes in empowerment for project beneficiaries after one year of Solar Market Garden production relative to non-beneficiaries in both treatment and comparison villages (n=771). To create an empowerment metric, we constructed a set of general questions based on existing theories of empowerment, and then used latent variable analysis to understand the underlying structure of empowerment locally. We repeated this analysis at follow-up to understand whether the structure of empowerment had changed over time, and then measured changes in both the levels and likelihood of empowerment over time. We show that the Solar Market Garden significantly positively impacted women's empowerment, particularly through the domain of economic independence. In addition to providing rigorous evidence for the impact of a rural renewable energy project on women's empowerment, our work lays out a methodology that can be used in the future to benchmark the gender impacts of energy projects.