SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, ENERGY-POVERTY NEXUS AND PUTTING THE LAST FIRST

This paper reviews how renewable energy applications in rural areas could reduce poverty, create income generating enterprises, and improve overall well-being of communities. In addition to highlighting a wide range of cases from developing countries, the research also points out to multifarious applications of solar energy technologies for rural development. The conventional myths that the poor cannot afford nor manage smart technologies are not true, as evidenced in the cases presented in this paper. Another objective of this paper is to highlight and emphasise the role of institutions, both formal and informal, with their nested partnerships in supporting, promoting and enhancing the use renewable energy technology-based solutions in rural communities of developing and emerging (BRICs) economies.KEY WORDS: solar energy, climate change, renewable energy, rural development, energy-poverty, sustainability, institutions, livelihoods, capacity building