A First Step Up the Energy Ladder? Low Cost Solar Kits and Household's Welfare in Rural Rwanda

39 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2014

See all articles by Michael Grimm

Michael Grimm

Erasmus University Rotterdam; University of Passau; IZA; DIW Berlin

Anicet Munyehirwe

IB&C (Rwanda)

Jörg Ankel-Peters

RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research; University of Passau - Business Administration and Economics

Maximiliane Sievert

RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 29, 2014

Abstract

More than 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity. The UN have proclaimed the goal of providing electricity to all by 2030. In recent years, Pico-Photovoltaic kits have become a lower cost alternative to investment intensive grid electrification. Using a randomized controlled trial we examine uptake and impacts of a simple Pico-Photovoltaic kit that barely exceeds the benchmark of what the UN considers as modern energy. We find significant effects on households’ budget, productivity and convenience. Despite these effects, the data shows that adoption will be impeded by affordability, suggesting that policy has to consider subsidized dissemination strategies.

Keywords: Energy access, household technology adoption, Sub-Saharan Africa

JEL Classification: O13, O18, Q41

Suggested Citation

Grimm, Michael and Grimm, Michael and Munyehirwe, Anicet and Ankel-Peters, Jörg and Sievert, Maximiliane, A First Step Up the Energy Ladder? Low Cost Solar Kits and Household's Welfare in Rural Rwanda (November 29, 2014). USAEE Working Paper No. 14-189, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2531900 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2531900

Michael Grimm

Erasmus University Rotterdam ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.iss.nl

University of Passau ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.wiwi.uni-passau.de/grimm.html

IZA ( email )

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DIW Berlin ( email )

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Berlin, 10117
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Anicet Munyehirwe

IB&C (Rwanda)

Boulevard de Nyabugoro
Kigali
Rwanda

Jörg Ankel-Peters (Contact Author)

RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
45128 Essen
Germany
0049-201-8149-247 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rwi-essen.de

University of Passau - Business Administration and Economics ( email )

Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultaet
Passau, D-94030
Germany

Maximiliane Sievert

RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Essen, 45128
Germany

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