Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?
Open accessAbstract
Assessing the extent of evidence available relating to the impact of solar energy for households (HHs) in developing countries, surveys are reviewed focusing on the impact of pico‐photovoltaic (e.g., solar lanterns) or solar home systems (SHS) on rural HHs and directly related economic activities of their occupiers. Ninety‐eight documents have been analyzed. Areas of enquiry have included the impact of small individual solar photovoltaic systems on different facets of the life of HHs' occupiers: their education, health, finance, livelihoods, and social relations. Research on the impact of small solar systems contradicts the commonly accepted idea that small solar systems—due to their limited capacity—cannot have an impact in terms of development. In actual fact, these systems seem to have a significant impact in terms of quality of life for their users and in helping them to keep connected to the global world by supplying power to mobile phones and television sets. Nevertheless, it is not yet possible to draw definitive conclusions on their quantitative impact in specific areas, except for: (a) evidence of increase of quality lighting, (b) strong evidence of cost savings when kerosene lamps are replaced by solar lighting, and (c) evidence on the impact of solar lighting on the time of studying of children and quality of education. Finally, indications are given on the kind of research which could be conducted to fill current gaps in demonstrating evidence of the impact of small individual solar systems. This article is categorized under:Photovoltaics > Climate and Environment Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy
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Other studies support that transitioning to solar lighting can bring benefits beyond pollution exposure reduction, including household savings, more income-generating activity, gender empowerment, social inclusion, and improved education from more homework time.
“Other studies have corroborated that the potential benefits of a transition to solar lighting extend well beyond reductions in pollution exposure to include savings on household expenditures, increase in income generating activities, gender empowerment, social inclusion, and improved education due to more time spent on homework12,13.”
From Effect of a solar lighting intervention on fuel-based lighting use and exposure to household air pollution in rural Uganda: A randomized controlled trial (2022) · cites this paper as [12]
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“Grid extension is usually considered the best option as it guarantees a continuous supply with high power capability, but numerous studies have also demonstrated the feasibility of rural electrification using individual solar photovoltaic systems [4,25] or centralised systems [3,26].”
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Kayima, P., Semakula, H. M., Wasswa, H., Mugagga, F., & Mukwaya, P. I. (2023) · Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development · doi:10.1016/j.esd.2023.101332 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Ali, S., Yan, Q., Hu, J., Irfan, M. F., & Sun, H. (2023) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-023-29211-3 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“In addition, purposive sampling was used to select respondents to access the entire population, and the results are consistent with theoretical generalizations (Lemaire 2018).”
ResultSundararajan, R., D’Couto, H., Mugerwa, J., Tayebwa, M., Lam, N. L., Wallach, E. S., Wiens, M. O., Ponticiello, M., Stanistreet, D., Tsai, A. C., et al. (2022) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac3f05 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
GhoshThakur, R., Basu, A., Haque, Z., Bhattacharya, B., GonChaudhuri, S., & Balachandran, S. (2022) · Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments · doi:10.1016/j.seta.2022.102163 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Assessing the Market for Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Microgrids in Malawi
Eales, A., Alsop, A., Frame, D., Strachan, S. M., & Galloway, S. (2020) · Journal of Sustainability Research · doi:10.20900/jsr20200008 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Similarly, the impacts of access to electricity via SHS is being reported on issues as diverse as health, education, security, communications and income [10,11].”
BackgroundWallach, E. S., Lam, N. L., Nuwagira, E., Muyanja, D., Tayebwa, M., Valeri, L., Tsai, A. C., Vallarino, J., Allen, J. G., & Lai, P. S. (2022) · Indoor Air · doi:10.1111/ina.12986 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
The Energy Lock-In Effect of Solar Home Systems: A Case Study in Rural Nigeria
Hassan, O., Morse, S., & Leach, M. A. (2020) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en13246682 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“The most common use for SHSs is the improved lighting service it provides compared to kerosene or candles [29] with educational improvements for children who use the light to read and do homework as a key outcome [26,30].”
BackgroundGrabher, H. F., Erb, K., Singh, S. J., & Haberl, H. (2023) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108057 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
MAHIEU, A. F. D., McCord, R., Beach, K. E. B., Dai, C., Chilongo, T., Jumbe, C. B., & Jagger, P. (2025) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2025.104249 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Eludoyin, E. O., & Lemaire, X. (2020) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2020.101820 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationWalwyn, D. R., & Hanlin, R. (2022) · Frontiers in Energy Research · doi:10.3389/fenrg.2022.877307 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“This supports similar findings from elsewhere (Mills, 2003; Lemaire, 2018).”
BackgroundResultDemand for Off-Grid Solar Electricity – Experimental Evidence from RwandaPreprint
Grimm, M., Lenz, L., Peters, J., & Sievert, M. (2019) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3399004 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Coville, A., Zivin, J. G., Reichert, A. R., & Reitmann, A. (2025) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103514 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Ali, S., Yan, Q., Irfan, M. F., Ai, F., Sun, H., & Xiaochun, Z. (2023) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-023-30352-8 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“In addition, a goal-directed random sample was operated to retrieve the whole inhabitants, and the results are consistent with generalizations based on theory (Lemaire 2018).”
ResultSocio-economic factors influencing the adoption of solar home systems: the case study of Ghana
Effah, E. K., Gyamfi, S., Diawuo, F. A., & Asuamah, E. Y. (2025) · Scientific African · doi:10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02727 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Barry, M. S., Cretì, A., & Ly, A. (2025) · Applied Economics · doi:10.1080/00036846.2025.2572537 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Ali, S., Yan, Q., Sun, H., & Irfan, M. F. (2023) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-023-31543-z · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“In addition, purposive sampling was used to pick respondents to access the entire population and fit theoretical generalization (Lemaire 2018).”
RetractedProsocial motives of solar entrepreneurs combating energy poverty in South Africa
Akinboade, O. A., Taft, T., Weber, J. F., Ngoepe-Ntsoane, M. J., & Molobi, V. S. (2023) · Business Strategy & Development · doi:10.1002/bsd2.243 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
A review on the sustainability of solar home system for rural electrification
Scott-George, A., Li, C., Tang, Y. K., Saha, S., Ali, M. T. B., Marma, A., & Pal, S. K. (2021) · E3S Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202129402003 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Sun, B., Gao, K., Liu, S., Wei, Q., & Wang, H. (2023) · Renewable Energy · doi:10.1016/j.renene.2023.03.009 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Using solar panels for business purposes: Evidence based on high-frequency power usage data
Weisser, C., Lenel, F., Lu, Y., Kis‐Katos, K., & Kneib, T. (2021) · Development Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.deveng.2021.100074 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Techno-Economic Analysis of Wireless Community Grid for Rural Communities
Adhikari, T., & Stevens, R. J. (2019) · IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) · doi:10.1109/ghtc46095.2019.9033081 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“home systems and solar lanterns [9] [10] [11].”
BackgroundSustaining our common future: Transformative, timely, commons‐based change is needed
Byrne, J., & Lund, P. D. (2018) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Energy and Environment · doi:10.1002/wene.334 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Along with the rapid development of clean energy technologies, the practical solutions typically used in developing countries also need updating, moving from small uses to larger applications, such as solar microgrid systems (Lemaire, 2018), which could substitute for grid connections.”
BackgroundGill‐Wiehl, A., Ferrall, I. L., & Kammen, D. M. (2022) · Energy, climate and the environment · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-13825-6_7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Coville, A., Zivin, J. G., Reichert, A. R., & Reitmann, A. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4825982 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Adhikari, T. (2019) · RIT Scholar Works (Rochester Institute of Technology)
Using Solar Panels for Business Purposes: Evidence Based on High-Frequency Power Usage DataPreprint
Weisser, C., Lenel, F., Lu, Y., Kis‐Katos, K., & Kneib, T. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3918196
Lauren, N., Bragge, P., Waddell, A., Lennox, A., McFarlane, K., & Graham, P. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4837017
Implementing Solar Power Generation in Residential Spaces
Padmaja, V., Srikanth, M., Reddy, T. B., & Chary, S. A. (2024) · International Conference on Data Intelligence and Cognitive Informatics (ICDICI) · doi:10.1109/icdici62993.2024.10810790
“Developing high level of source signals for various patterns [6].”
Ojöng, N. (2026) · Energy, climate and the environment · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-13707-4_6
Supply chain challenges and off-grid energy development: insights from Southern and East Africa
Vallecha, H., Kirshner, J. D., Howe, L., Gebreslassie, M. G., & To, L. S. (2026) · Environmental Research Energy · doi:10.1088/2753-3751/ae659a
“Egypt has successfully localised 30% of the wind farm components over the last few years and achieved 55% share of local manufacturing for CSP systems [64].”
Hadi, D. A. A., Liu, J. R., Ali, S., Hadi, K. A. A., & Akram, J. (2026) · SN Business & Economics · doi:10.1007/s43546-026-01228-z
“The economy’s expansion relies upon a reliable energy supply (Lemaire 2018).”
Yaakub, S., & Ali, S. (2026) · Discover Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s43621-026-04698-1
“Additionally, a goal-oriented test was selected to represent the whole population and fit the abstract majority [85].”
InfluentialPost‐Connection Electricity Access Complexities in Eswatini: Household Energy Stacking
Hastie, H., & Dlamini, W. M. D. (2026) · Geo Geography and Environment · doi:10.1002/geo2.70108
- Authors
- Lemaire, X.
- Affiliations
- Energy Institute (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lemaire, Xavier
- ORCID
- Lemaire, Xavier
- Venue
- WIREs Energy and Environment
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-06-12
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 5
- ISSN
- 2041-8396 (ISSN-L)
- 2041-840X
- OpenAlex
- W2808671091
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- discovery.ucl.ac.uk
- Locations
- Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Energy and Environment (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Energy and Environment Impacts
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Business and International Management › Innovation and Socioeconomic Development
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
- Keywords
- solar home systems, solar lanterns, rural households, off-grid solar power, household impact, cost reduction, livelihoods, quality of life, mobile phone connectivity, Global South
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