IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v38y2010i2p1087-1097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Off-grid energy services for the poor: Introducing LED lighting in the Millennium Villages Project in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Adkins, Edwin
  • Eapen, Sandy
  • Kaluwile, Flora
  • Nair, Gautam
  • Modi, Vijay

Abstract

Lanterns that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by batteries, which are in turn charged by grid electricity or small solar panels, have emerged as a cost-competitive alternative to kerosene and other fuel-based lighting technologies, offering brighter light for longer duration at equal or lower cost over time. This paper presents lessons learned from the introduction of solar LED lanterns in rural Malawi. We discuss a market-based program using new and existing local commercial structures such as vendors and cooperatives to sell lanterns to village households without subsidy. The paper addresses issues of enterprise development, community interactions, and survey data on lighting use and expenditure patterns before and after LED lantern introduction. Households that purchased a lantern reported high levels of satisfaction with the LED lanterns as well as savings in annual kerosene expenditure comparable to the price of the lantern. These households also reported monthly incomes comparable to the price of the LED lanterns whereas non-adopters surveyed reported monthly incomes about half this level, suggesting a need for financing options to maximize adoption among poorer populations in rural areas. These results suggest that similar market based models of LED lighting technology dissemination have the potential to be replicated and scaled up in other off-grid regions in developing countries. However, viability of local cooperatives and supply chains for lantern products over the medium-to-long term remain to be assessed.

Suggested Citation

  • Adkins, Edwin & Eapen, Sandy & Kaluwile, Flora & Nair, Gautam & Modi, Vijay, 2010. "Off-grid energy services for the poor: Introducing LED lighting in the Millennium Villages Project in Malawi," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1087-1097, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:2:p:1087-1097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(09)00820-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedro Sanchez & Glenn Denning & Generose Nziguheba, 2009. "The African Green Revolution moves forward," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 1(1), pages 37-44, February.
    2. Feder, Gershon & Just, Richard E & Zilberman, David, 1985. "Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 255-298, January.
    3. Robert Cull & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Jonathan Morduch, 2009. "Microfinance Meets the Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 167-192, Winter.
    4. Acker, Richard H & Kammen, Daniel M, 1996. "The quiet (energy) revolution : Analysing the dissemination of photovoltaic power systems in Kenya," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 81-111, January.
    5. Wamukonya, Njeri, 2007. "Solar home system electrification as a viable technology option for Africa's development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 6-14, January.
    6. Rao, P. Sharath Chandra & Miller, Jeffrey B. & Wang, Young Doo & Byrne, John B., 2009. "Energy-microfinance intervention for below poverty line households in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1694-1712, May.
    7. Balint, Peter J., 2006. "Bringing solar home systems to rural El Salvador: lessons for small NGOs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 721-729, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. McHenry, Mark P. & Doepel, David, 2015. "The ‘low power’ revolution: Rural off-grid consumer technologies and portable micropower systems in non-industrialised regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 679-684.
    2. McHenry, M.P. & Doepel, D. & Onyango, B.O. & Opara, U.L., 2014. "Small-scale portable photovoltaic-battery-LED systems with submersible LED units to replace kerosene-based artisanal fishing lamps for Sub-Saharan African lakes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 276-284.
    3. Harish, Santosh M. & Iychettira, Kaveri K. & Raghavan, Shuba V. & Kandlikar, Milind, 2013. "Adoption of solar home lighting systems in India: What might we learn from Karnataka?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 697-706.
    4. Wong, Sam, 2012. "Overcoming obstacles against effective solar lighting interventions in South Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 110-120.
    5. Scott, Inara, 2017. "A business model for success: Enterprises serving the base of the pyramid with off-grid solar lighting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 50-55.
    6. Pillot, Benjamin & Muselli, Marc & Poggi, Philippe & Dias, João Batista, 2019. "Historical trends in global energy policy and renewable power system issues in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 113-124.
    7. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Ryan, Sarah E., 2016. "The geography of energy and education: Leaders, laggards, and lessons for achieving primary and secondary school electrification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 107-123.
    8. Kütt, Lauri & Millar, John & Karttunen, Antti & Lehtonen, Matti & Karppinen, Maarit, 2018. "Thermoelectric applications for energy harvesting in domestic applications and micro-production units. Part I: Thermoelectric concepts, domestic boilers and biomass stoves," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 519-544.
    9. Abhi Chatterjee & Daniel Burmester & Alan Brent & Ramesh Rayudu, 2019. "Research Insights and Knowledge Headways for Developing Remote, Off-Grid Microgrids in Developing Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, May.
    10. Hong, Xudong & Wu, Shengnan & Zhang, Xueliang, 2022. "Clean energy powers energy poverty alleviation: Evidence from Chinese micro-survey data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    11. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.
    12. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Calzada, Joan & Jordana, Jacint, 2017. "How to achieve full electrification: Lessons from Latin America," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 55-69.
    13. Chirambo, Dumisani, 2016. "Addressing the renewable energy financing gap in Africa to promote universal energy access: Integrated renewable energy financing in Malawi," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 793-803.
    14. Annika Groth, 2020. "Overcoming One-way Impact Evaluation of Rural Electrification Projects," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 464-476.
    15. Xavier Lemaire, 2018. "Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(5), September.
    16. Darren McCauley & Rebecca Grant & Evance Mwathunga, 2022. "Achieving energy justice in Malawi: from key challenges to policy recommendations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-22, February.
    17. Elizabeth Baldwin & Jennifer N. Brass & Sanya Carley & Lauren M. MacLean, 2015. "Electrification and rural development: issues of scale in distributed generation," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 196-211, March.
    18. Alem, Yonas & Hassen, Sied & Kohlin, Gunnar, 2013. "The Dynamics of Electric Cookstove Adoption: Panel Data Evidence from Ethiopia," RFF Working Paper Series dp-13-03-efd, Resources for the Future.
    19. Stefan Bouzarovski & Saska Petrova & Sergio Tirado-Herrero, 2014. "From Fuel Poverty to Energy Vulnerability: The Importance of Services, Needs and Practices," SPRU Working Paper Series 2014-25, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    20. Ahemen Iorkyaa & Akpagher I. Richard & Alexander N. Amah, 2012. "The Efficacy of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamps Used in Rural Communities of Nigeria," Energy and Environment Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 2(1), pages 121-121, June.
    21. Hong, George William & Abe, Naoya, 2012. "Modeling and optimizing a sub-centralized LED lamps provision system for rural communities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4616-4628.
    22. Mandelli, Stefano & Barbieri, Jacopo & Mereu, Riccardo & Colombo, Emanuela, 2016. "Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1621-1646.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chaurey, Akanksha & Kandpal, Tara Chandra, 2010. "Assessment and evaluation of PV based decentralized rural electrification: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(8), pages 2266-2278, October.
    2. Friebe, Christian A. & Flotow, Paschen von & Täube, Florian A., 2013. "Exploring the link between products and services in low-income markets—Evidence from solar home systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 760-769.
    3. Purohit, Pallav, 2009. "CO2 emissions mitigation potential of solar home systems under clean development mechanism in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1014-1023.
    4. Holtorf, Hans & Urmee, Tania & Calais, Martina & Pryor, Trevor, 2015. "A model to evaluate the success of Solar Home Systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 245-255.
    5. Brunet, Carole & Savadogo, Oumarou & Baptiste, Pierre & Bouchard, Michel A., 2018. "Shedding some light on photovoltaic solar energy in Africa – A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 325-342.
    6. Komatsu, Satoru & Kaneko, Shinji & Ghosh, Partha Pratim, 2011. "Are micro-benefits negligible? The implications of the rapid expansion of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in rural Bangladesh for sustainable development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4022-4031, July.
    7. Abe, Shin & Takahashi, Ryo & Haruna, Akiko & Yamaji, Eiji & Wakatsuki, Toshiyuki, 2012. "Farming strategy of African smallholder farmers in transition from traditional to alternative agriculture : the case of the Nupe in central Nigeria," IDE Discussion Papers 355, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    8. Paul Munro & Greg van der Horst & Simon Willans & Preston Kemeny & Ame Christiansen & Nicole Schiavone, 2016. "Social enterprise development and renewable energy dissemination in Africa: The experience of the community charging station model in Sierra Leone," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(1), pages 24-38, January.
    9. Schillebeeckx, Simon J.D. & Parikh, Priti & Bansal, Rahul & George, Gerard, 2012. "An integrated framework for rural electrification: Adopting a user-centric approach to business model development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 687-697.
    10. Gine, Xavier & Menand, Lev & Townsend, Robert & Vickery, James, 2010. "Microinsurance : a case study of the Indian rainfall index insurance market," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5459, The World Bank.
    11. George Adwek & Shen Boxiong & Paul O. Ndolo & Zachary O. Siagi & Chebet Chepsaigutt & Cicilia M. Kemunto & Moses Arowo & John Shimmon & Patrobers Simiyu & Abel C. Yabo, 2020. "The solar energy access in Kenya: a review focusing on Pay-As-You-Go solar home system," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 3897-3938, June.
    12. Urpelainen, Johannes & Yoon, Semee, 2017. "Can product demonstrations create markets for sustainable energy technology? A randomized controlled trial in rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 666-675.
    13. Ouma, James Okuro & De Groote, Hugo & Owuor, George, 2006. "Determinants of Improved Maize Seed and Fertilizer Use in Kenya: Policy Implications," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25433, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Junyon Im & Sunny Sun, 2015. "Profits and outreach to the poor: The institutional logics of microfinance institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 95-117, March.
    15. Alexander, Corinne E., 2002. "The Role Of Seed Company Supplied Information In Farmers' Decisions," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19617, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    16. Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew & Gerber, Nicolas & Matz, Julia Anna, 2018. "Gendered Social Networks, Agricultural Innovations, and Farm Productivity in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 321-335.
    17. Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge & Wechsler, Seth James, 2012. "Fifteen Years Later: Examining the Adoption of Bt Corn Varieties by U.S. Farmers," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124257, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Christopher B. Barrett & Christine M. Moser & Oloro V. McHugh & Joeli Barison, 2004. "Better Technology, Better Plots, or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes in Productivity and Risk among Malagasy Rice Farmers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(4), pages 869-888.
    19. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mungoma, Catherine, 2008. "The effect of household wealth on the adoption of improved maize varieties in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 550-559, December.
    20. Cuong Le Van & Nguyen To The, 2019. "Farmers’ adoption of organic production," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 33-59, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Solar Lighting Development;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:2:p:1087-1097. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.