(DNA)
In the next five years, India plans to install 10,000 small-scale solar-power grids across the country to bring basic electrical power to communities without it. But providing access to a minimal supply of clean energy – enough to power two LED lights for a few hours and charge a mobile phone – is probably not enough to significantly improve people’s lives, new research suggests.
A study in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, which looked at more than a thousand homes that had received basic access to clean electricity for the first time, found that spending on expensive kerosene for lighting had fallen, a benefit to families.But access to a couple hours a day of electricity was not enough to boost savings, help launch new businesses, increase time spent working or studying, or otherwise significantly improve people’s lives, researchers found.
