This paper documents the challenges faced by one company, Gram Power, installing and operating solar microgrids in rural India. We begin by summarizing the existing literature on best practices for microgrid deployment. Although Gram Power followed nearly all of these recommendations, the company nevertheless faced significant challenges. First, demand for solar microgrids was very limited,…
Tag: Energy Access
Analytics on Pricing Signals in Peer-to-Peer Solar Microgrids in Bangladesh
Solar microgrids enabling peer-to-peer energy exchange among off-grid households are poised to contribute to electrifying rural areas in the Global South. This novel approach provides underserved communities with affordable, green and reliable energy access, capable of powering higher-tier consumer as well as productive-use appliances. To ensure these microgrids can be run sustainably, this paper seeks…
Quality Matters: Power Reliability and Grid Connection in Rural Guatemala
Electrification rates have been increasing within low and middle income countries. However, the prevalence of outages is still a relevant issue for rural households when considering whether to connect to the grid. We test this by exploiting a shock in quality that unequally affected different municipalities in Guatemala during 2012–2014. Our main estimates, which are…