Why Off-Grid Energy Matters

The market for off-grid energy is rapidly growing to meet the needs of the 860 million people across the world who lack access to electricity. Energy plays a role in virtually every area of social impact or global challenge: security, climate change, food production, health, and jobs. Energy underpins our ability to consume good and services that make our lives convenient and enjoyable. This impact report is rooted in the voice of the customer, offering critical market insights from 35,000 interviews of customers served by 49 off-grid energy companies. These companies work across 17 countries, from Haiti to India. The most represented region is sub-Saharan Africa, where the off-grid energy sector is the largest and arguably most dynamic, followed by South Asia.

This report build on Acumen’s 2018 Energy Impact report, featuring a much larger number of companies, a wider variety of energy products and services, new social performance indicators and broader market insights. Much of the data is new, reflecting the constantly changing social dynamics and experiences of off-grid energy consumers. The report offers deep, bottom-up analysis of key learnings, customer by customer and interview by interview, about what it means to own a modern off-grid energy product: the impact on attitudes, behaviours, and quality of life.