While the off-grid solar market has shown tremendous resilience, recovery from the COVID-19 related lockdowns is uneven despite it being an industry that could drive climate action and help the world achieve energy access goals.
GOGLA and the Efficiency for Access Coalition have published the latest semi-annual Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report which shows an additional 23 million people could have gained energy access if the off-grid solar market had remained on its pre-COVID-19 growth trajectory.
Almost 3.5 million units of off-grid solar lighting products were sold around the world between January and June 2021. This represents a 4% decrease in sales compared to the second half of 2020. Sales of off-grid appropriate appliances such as television sets, fans, refrigeration units and solar water pumps shrank by 10% compared to the previous reporting period, with 421,000 units sold.
Off-grid solar-powered lighting and appliances provide the most affordable and fastest way for hundreds of millions of climate-vulnerable households and businesses, currently operating without access to electricity, to avoid CO2 emissions.
While climate-vulnerable communities contribute the least to the world’s climate crises they are very exposed to its negative consequences. Off-grid solar products enable them to adapt and become more resilient to climate shocks, while helping the world achieve a net-zero energy future.
Chinese (Simplified)
Arabic
Dutch
English
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish