Can photovoltaic poverty alleviation reduce multidimensional energy poverty? Evidence from 1928 counties in China

Energy poverty, a complex multidimensional challenge, is a key obstacle to achieving sustainable development. This study provides the first nationwide causal assessment of China's Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation (PVPA) policy on multidimensional energy poverty (MEP) using a balanced panel of 1928 counties from 2013 to 2020, covering approximately 90% of the nation's poor population. We assess the dynamic impacts of PVPA on MEP, measured through the multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI), which captures dimensions such as cooking, lighting, and communication—by applying staggered difference-in-differences (DID), Callaway and Sant'Anna's heterogeneity-robust DID (CSDID), Honest-DID, and spatial DID methods. Results show that PVPA significantly alleviates MEP through two reinforcing pathways: first by increasing household income via PV electricity revenue and rural employment, and second by enabling clean energy substitution, reducing reliance on biomass and coal. Between 2013 and 2020, China's national MEPI declined by 23%, with stronger PVPA effects observed in low-coal, low-vegetation, and relocation-targeted areas, while regions with entrenched traditional energy use showed weak effects. Mechanism analysis confirms that both income enhancement and service improvement contribute to these gains. This study provides robust causal evidence linking renewable energy–driven poverty alleviation to MEP reduction, offering policy insights on embedding energy access targets in rural revitalization, tailoring interventions to regional contexts, and sustaining improvements through distributed energy storage and infrastructure upgrades.