Solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia

Palit, Debajit

doi:10.1016/j.esd.2013.01.002

Cited by 180 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Because of the remoteness of the areas where PV systems are being used for rural electrification, the adopters lack access to information, knowledge, communication channels, technical assistance, and other infrastructure. This emphasizes the need for a functioning service to continue monitoring and maintenance, even after the customers have already bought the systems [21,36]. The need for this service, however, poses a challenge on cost and manpower to manage and guarantee the sustainability of the system [42,45].…”

Section: Management Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be influenced by not only the local conditions of the user's environment [10] but also the political and financial arrangements [21] that may change from country to country. A concrete example of such a phenomenon is given by Palit [21]. He mentions that Bangladesh and India have better quality standards for PV systems, especially for battery performance, than Sri Lanka.…”

Section: Sociotechnical Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a synopsis of such a comparison, the lack of international donor funding for PV systems seems to be a barrier for diffusion to take off. In this manner, Palit [21] incorporated the lack of suitable financing mechanism as the most significant barrier, based on a comparative study of off-grid systems in several South Asian countries. In the case of Hong Kong for both on-and off-grid systems, Zhang et al [30] also mentioned the high initial costs, high repair costs, and long payback period as barriers to adoption.…”

Section: Economic Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When a PV system is utilized to supply electricity access in rural areas in low-income economies, different business strategies should be implemented (see e.g., [21,36]) compared with the high-income economies where it is often used as an alternative power supply. In addition, implementing similar business models as for urban usage is not applicable in rural settings because of several conditions that differentiate this market from the higher income adopters [67].…”

Section: Management Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some researchers have focused on economic aspects (e.g., [12,13]), while others have analyzed policy (e.g., [14,15]) and management dimensions (e.g., [16,17]). Many empirical studies have appeared in different contexts, not only based on a variety of countries, for example, Germany [15], Zimbabwe [18], and Thailand [17], but also type of application, for example, on-grid (e.g., [19,20]) and off-grid systems (e.g., [21,22]). For several decades, technology and costs were assumed to be not commercially competitive compared with conventional energy sources (see e.g., [23]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art

Karakaya

Sriwannawit

2015

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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113

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a b s t r a c tAlthough photovoltaic (PV) systems have become much more competitive, the diffusion of PV systems still remains low in comparison to conventional energy sources. What are the current barriers hindering the diffusion of PV systems? In order to address this, we conducted an extensive and systematic literature review based on the Web of Science database. Our state-of-the-art review shows that, despite the rapid development and maturity of the technology during the past few years, the adoption of PV systems still faces several barriers. The wide adoption of PV systems-either as a substitute for other electricity power generation systems in urban areas or for rural electrification-is a challenging process. Our results show that the barriers are evident for both low-and high-income economies, encompassing four dimensions: sociotechnical, management, economic, and policy. Although the barriers vary across context, the lessons learned from one study can be valuable to others. The involvement of all stakeholders-adopters, local communities, firms, international organizations, financial institutions, and government-is crucial to foster the adoption.

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Section: Management Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sociotechnical Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Economic Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Management Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art

Karakaya

Sriwannawit

2015

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

239

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Economic growth and development with low‐carbon energy

Fankhauser

Jotzo

2017

WIREs Climate Change

101

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Energy is needed for economic growth, and access to cheap, reliable energy is an essential development objective. Historically most incremental energy demand has been met through fossil fuels; however, in future that energy will have to be low carbon and ultimately zero-carbon. Decarbonization can and needs to happen at varying speeds in all countries, depending on national circumstances. This article reviews the implications of a transition to low-carbon energy on economic growth and development in current low-income countries. It sets out empirical findings about trajectories for energy intensity and emissions intensity of economic growth; explores pathways to accelerate decarbonization; reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on economic costs and co-benefits of energy decarbonization; and assesses analytical approaches. It discusses the opportunities that might arise in terms of a cleaner, more dynamic and more sustainable growth model, and the options for developing countries to implement a lesscarbon intensive model of economic development.

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Comparison of various approaches to design wind‐PV rural electrification projects in remote areas of developing countries

Domenech

Ferrer‐Martí

Pastor

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Nowadays, around 1.1 billion people in rural and remote areas of developing countries remain without electricity. Stand-alone projects that combine the wind and photovoltaic generation technologies as well as microgrids and individual supplies for the distribution network are an adequate strategy to reach such isolated regions. However, the design of electrification projects is complex, having to define the best combination of generation and distribution technologies, under a challenging social context and tight technoeconomic resources. In order to ease decision-making, several tools have been developed in the literature and are here reviewed, grouped into three main categories: optimization processes, aiming to minimize project costs subject to technical constraints, through exact or heuristic algorithms; multicriteria processes, using different methods to select the best among a set of predefined scenarios according to economic, technical, social, and environmental criteria; and systematized tools, that have been developed to provide user-friendly interface for their larger dissemination in different regions and contexts. Hence, this paper aims to provide researchers and practitioners an analysis of the advantages and limitations of approaches used over the last decade when addressing the designing of wind and/or photovoltaic electrification projects for extremely poor and isolated areas in developing countries, as well as some areas for further research.

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Solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia

Cited by 180 publications

References 20 publications

Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art

Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art

Economic growth and development with low‐carbon energy

Comparison of various approaches to design wind‐PV rural electrification projects in remote areas of developing countries

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