Malavika Jain Bambawale: Access to power would spark an economic revolution for many

There are close to 1.5 billion people globally without access to electricity. Unfortunately, in today's world it is almost impossible to find viable income-generating activities without access to electricity.

Renewable energy technologies (RETs) are invaluable to those who live outside the boundaries of power grids. The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century estimates that there are tens of millions of rural households served by renewable energy globally - a mere drop in the ocean.

Why doesn't the power grid reach these households? They are typically located in remote villages where grid access is prohibitively expensive. Governments lack both the means and motivation, owing to their inability to recoup costs from poor villagers, often because subsidised electricity prices depress revenues.

These households resort to traditional fuels such as wood, oil, and candles, leading to severe indoor pollution, not to mention chronic fire hazards.

Off-grid RETs represent a viable solution, and come in various forms: solar home systems, mini-hydroelectric generators, roof wind turbines and village-level mini-grids using a mix of diesel generators and local renewable sources, to name a few. A solar home system connects a photovoltaic panel to fluorescent lightbulbs, radio, and even TV, via a battery and load controller. A World Bank study has shown that a 20-watt solar home system can cut monthly kerosene consumption in rural households by roughly 15 litres.

Governments in developing countries have been promoting projects to distribute off-grid RETs for decades, supported by aid programmes or non-governmental organisations - the private sector has typically stayed out of the way.

But the nature of these projects is changing. The often debilitating impact of the traditional foreign-aid model on developing countries' nascent private sectors has led to a fundamental reconsideration, as new projects become more market-driven.

The important thing is to recognise that there is a broad spectrum of available options, and that efforts need to be ramped up on a massive scale - in India alone, every third person lacks access to electricity. If we want to avoid isolating communities and ensure inclusive economic growth, we need to start with the basics.

• Malavika Jain Bambawale is a research fellow at the Centre on Asia and Globlisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore