IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/phs/dpaper/201508.html

Solar Power's Rise and Promise

Author

Listed:
  • Ernesto M. Pernia

    (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman)

  • Maria Janela M. Generoso

    (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman)

Abstract

Time was when solar energy was facilely dismissed as impractical, inefficient, and pricey. In recent years, however, innovations in technology, regulation, and financing have resulted in remarkable efficiency improvements and price reductions, thereby reversing the skepticism about this renewable energy (RE) source. In this paper, we explore how this has happened, to what extent photovoltaic solar technology has been accepted around the world, and what might be its potential for inclusive green growth. We find that adoption of both on-grid and off-grid solar systems has been widespread and rapidly increasing. Particularly noteworthy is the utilization of small- scale individual or distributed off-grid solar home systems (SHS) in remote and underserved areas in the developing world, including East Africa and South Asia. It appears that the Philippines has been a relative latecomer. Data show that solar power's "installed" capacity remains a tiny fraction of all RE sources (that also include hydro, geothermal, wind, biomass, and ocean). Moreover, such capacity is for ongrid only; there seems none as yet installed for off-grid SHS. We conclude with the paper's main points and possible implications for policy and research.

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto M. Pernia & Maria Janela M. Generoso, 2015. "Solar Power's Rise and Promise," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 201508, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:201508
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1478
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:20427 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Pernia, Ernesto M. & Quibria, M.G., 1999. "Poverty in developing countries," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: P. C. Cheshire & E. S. Mills (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 45, pages 1865-1934, Elsevier.
    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. Bertheau, Paul & Blechinger, Philipp, 2018. "Resilient solar energy island supply to support SDG7 on the Philippines: Techno-economic optimized electrification strategy for small islands," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 55-77.

    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. Quibria, M.G., 2020. "Poverty and Policy in the Developing World: Before and After the Pandemic," MPRA Paper 104240, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Oct 2020.
    2. Hodge, Graeme, 2002. "Private Sector Development Strategy: Some Critical Issues," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30610, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    3. Rana Hasan & M.G. Quibria & Yangseon Kim, 2003. "Poverty and Economic Freedom: Evidence from Cross-Country Data," Economics Study Area Working Papers 60, East-West Center, Economics Study Area.
    4. Ruperto P. Alonzo, et al, 2004. "Population and Poverty : The Real Score," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 200415, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    5. Ernesto M. Pernia, 2008. "Migration, Remittances, Poverty and Inequality The Philippines," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 200801, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    6. Ernesto M. Pernia, 2014. "Population Management, RH Law, and Inclusivity," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 201409, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    7. Pernia, Ernesto & Kakwani, Nanak, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," MPRA Paper 104987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Koizumi, Naoru & McCann, Philip, 2006. "Living on a plot of land as a tenure choice: The case of Panama," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 349-371, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:phs:dpaper:201508. 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: RT Campos (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/seupdph.html .

    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.