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Keeping the Lights On: How PAYGo Solar Can Offer Customer Relief During COVID-19
Off-grid solar delivers essential energy to millions of people, helping make households, business and institutions more resilient to the COVID-19 crisis. But as analysts at BFA, CGAP and GOGLA explain, the pandemic threatens the industry, particularly its very successful pay-as-you-go business model. They explore how companies could enable customers to continue using their solar home systems during the pandemic, with reduced – or even without – customer payments.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Report: Renewable Energy Can Support Resilient and Equitable Recovery
The Global Renewables Outlook examines building blocks of an energy system along with investment strategies and policy frameworks needed to manage the transition. It explores ways to cut global CO2 emissions by at least 70 per cent by 2050. Furthermore, a new perspective on deeper decarbonisation shows a path towards net-zero and zero emissions. Building on five technology pillars, particularly green hydrogen and extended end-use electrification could help replace fossil-fuels and slash emissions in heavy industry and hard-to-decarbonise sectors.
- Categories
- Energy
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Southeast Asia’s Renewable Energy Transition Likely to Take Hit From COVID-19: Experts
Southeast Asian nations already struggling to meet climate change targets will find those goals further from reach, with the unprecedented health emergency becoming the principal priority and a major economic burden.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Power in a Pandemic – Why Energy Access Matters During Coronavirus
Reliable, affordable electricity is needed to keep people connected at home and to run life-saving equipment in hospitals.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- energy access
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From the Fringe to the Center: Assessing the State of the Off-Grid Appliance Market in 2020
Energy access is about much more than connecting households to the grid, or getting them a rooftop solar panel. People also need access to life-changing appliances. But as Jenny Corry Smith at CLASP and Michael Tsan at Dalberg Advisors explain, these appliances still aren't reaching many households in rural sub-Saharan Africa. They share key insights from the new State of the Off-grid Appliance Market Report on how the sector can address this growing priority.
- Categories
- Energy
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New Data and Technologies are Transforming Energy Access – Public Policy Must Catch Up
Technologies like geospatial imagery, machine learning and affordable batteries are generating ever more innovative ways to target customers with off-grid energy solutions. But according to analysts at the Duke University Energy Access Project, public policy is struggling to keep up with these rapid-fire developments, leaving vast amounts of human capacity and productivity untapped. They explore how to address this disconnect between government and the private sector.
- Categories
- Energy
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Off-Grid Energy Investment at $2.1 Billion in the Last Decade: Wood Mackenzie
Wood Mackenzie estimates 420 million people now use standalone off-grid solar and another 47 million people rely on mini-grids for access to electricity. While investments in energy access have rapidly accelerated since 2016, total volumes still fall short of the total estimated financing needed to reach universal electricity access globally by 2030.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Unlocking Off-Grid Energy Finance: What Options Are Available for the Last Mile?
Extending the power grid to underserved communities is often prohibitively expensive. That's why decentralized renewable energy (DRE) is increasingly recognized as an essential approach. However, investments remain focused on grid-connected electricity, with only 1.2% directed towards DRE solutions in 2017. Surabhi Rajagopal and Eco Matser at Hivos explore challenges and solutions in financing energy access through DRE.