Off-grid solar technologies hold promise as an affordable and clean solution to satisfy basic electricity needs. Johannes will discuss findings from a randomized field experiment in India to estimate the causal effect of off-grid solar power on electricity access and broader socio-economic development of 1,281 rural households. Within a year, electrification rates in the treatment group increased by 29-36 percentage points. Daily hours of access to electricity increased only by 0.99-1.42 hours, though the confidence intervals are wide. Kerosene expenditure on the black market decreased by 47-49 rupees/month. Despite these strong electrification and expenditure effects, we found no systematic evidence for changes in savings, spending, business creation, time spent working or studying, or other broader indicators of socio-economic development.

The EPIC-India Seminar Series is run every month, and looks to provide a platform for researchers, policy makers and the public at large to discuss and debate important questions facing the energy and environment sectors in India.Registrations are free and open to all. The Seminar Series is supported by the Tata Trusts, as a project under the Tata Center for Development.