Access to Energy for the Base of the Pyramid

This report describes promising cases and trends from the Access to Energy project, which examined various strategies and innovations that are attempting to provide modern, clean, and safe energy to the poorest populations in developing countries.The project was sponsored by Total, Schneider Electric, and GDF SUEZ, major stakeholders in the energy sector and the development of energy-based products and services. It was conducted by Hystra, in collaboration with the international network of social entrepreneurs, Ashoka. The project took place in early 2009. It surveyed 138 Access to Energy initiatives across the world to understand what made them successful and what obstacles they faced. Findings include:

• Grid connections can turn slum communities into legal, paying customers using community organizing, technological innovation, and complementary business lines;
• Devices such as solar lanterns and biomass cook stoves provide energy for lighting and cooking and are affordable to the poorest of the poor;
• Solar home systems provide electricity for households and home-based entrepreneurs with a stand-alone solar photovoltaic panel wired into lamps and a plug;
• Rural cooperatives provide sustainable power supply and create income generation opportunities that increase peoples ability to pay for electricity.