Is off-grid residential solar power inclusive? Solar power adoption, energy poverty, and social inequality in India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13066489
AutoresSonia Akter (0000-0001-5644-9403, National University of Singapore, autor de correspondencia), Kaushambi Bagchi (National University of Singapore)
Año2021
Volumen82
Páginas102314-102314
Fecha de publicación2021-09-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEnergy Research & Social Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2214-6296 • E-ISSN: 2214-6326
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.erss.2021.102314
OpenAlexW3203519311
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas34

With India’s soaring energy demand and inadequate access to grid electricity in rural areas, off-grid solar power is a potential alternative for tackling India’s energy poverty and inequality. However, little knowledge exists on: (1) the spatio-temporal pattern of solar power adoption by the residential sector in rural areas of India, (2) the extent to which solar power has alleviated (a) energy poverty, and (b) energy access inequality. Using panel data from approximately 9000 rural residents in six energy-poor Indian states, we compare the solar power adoption rate across states over time (2015 and 2018), examine the contribution of solar power for alleviating energy poverty, and identify socio-economic characteristics of adopters. The average solar energy adoption rate was nine percent in 2018, five percentage points higher than in 2015, with the highest adoption rate in Bihar, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. This growth was driven primarily by solar lantern uptake, with the use of solar home systems only growing by less than one percentage point. Solar energy adoption significantly contributed to energy poverty alleviation but was limited to improving illumination. Solar home system adoption improved the use of electronic appliances among adopters but did not significantly increase radio/television use. Solar power played a limited role in energy inequality alleviation. Lower caste, poor households, and day laborers are less likely to adopt solar power and less aware of the availability of solar power as a residential energy source than higher caste, non-poor households, and self-employed farmers, traders, and salaried employees

Development economics · Distributed generation · Economic growth · Economics · Electrical engineering · Energy poverty · Environmental economics · Grid parity · Inequality · Physics · Poverty · Power (physics · Power grid · Social inequality · Solar energy · Solar Power · Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure · Energy and Environment Impacts · Engineering · Mathematics · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics