Millions of people lack access to the power grid, particularly in low-income rural areas of Africa and South Asia. If the current slow pace of electrification continues, 660 million people – most of them in Africa – will remain without electricity in 2030. Due to numerous challenges, people in off-grid settings typically have a lower quality of life, worse health outcomes, higher energy costs, and fewer economic opportunities than their grid-connected peers. High-quality, efficient off-grid solar appliances are a proven solution to these challenges.

This report – the third in the State of the Off-Grid Appliance Market series – finds that while the sector has strong fundamentals, it must rapidly grow in scale and ambition to avoid leaving people behind.

Key Findings: 

• Approximately 159 million off-grid solar fans, water pumps, refrigerators, and grain mills are needed to serve people who lack access to the electric grid. Less than 2% of this demand is being met, leaving more than half a billion people without life-changing appliances.

• There is a significant market opportunity of $58 billion USD for off-grid solar appliances like fans, water pumps, refrigerators, and grain mills.

• The off-grid appliance sector is characterized by a multitude of business models, reflecting a diverse range of technologies, end users, and operating environments. There is no one right business model; rather, chosen models need to be managed appropriately.
• Closing the energy service gap in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia requires exponential growth in the appliance sector. This can be achieved by deploying significantly more capital, strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration, and developing coherent policies and innovative business models.

Recommendations:  

• Governments should emphasize quality assurance and consumer protection through rigorous quality standards and tax and duty exemptions to make high-quality solar products more accessible; support an enabling environment by incentivizing local manufacturers and launching consumer awareness campaigns; and develop integrated policies by establishing cross-ministry task forces to integrate and harmonize policies and regulations.

• Investors, development partners, and financiers should encourage market entry by increasing the deployment of capital over the next ten years; create public-private partnerships by developing programs that combine public and private funding; integrate with climate finance by leveraging carbon credits and other climate finance mechanisms; and provide innovation funding to local and foreign technology innovators.

• Technology innovators should design appliances that meet the specific needs of local off-grid consumers; and enhance product durability and reliability that focuses on long-term user satisfaction and low maintenance costs.

• Venture builders and entrepreneurs should work to expand pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) models; leverage catalytic grants to innovate business models and build partnerships; and focus on specific market segments to enhance efficiency and increase market penetration.

• All market actors should prioritize user-centric data that directly benefits appliance users; harmonize methodologies that establish standardized tracking systems for assessing progress and informing policy decisions; and facilitate data sharing to inform decision-making and policy development.

Read the “Leave No One Behind: Bridging the Energy Access Gap with Innovative Off-Grid Solar Solutions” report.

About Efficiency for Access 

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote renewable and energy efficient appliances to deliver clean energy to the world’s poorest people. It is coordinated jointly by CLASP and the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.

Gain insight into the critical role of national appliance standards in improving public health and discover how to measure their impact against Justice40 goals. Find actionable recommendations for maximizing their benefits for a healthier, greener, and fairer future.

Key findings

• National appliance standards have led to significant reductions in PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursor emissions, avoiding hundreds of thousands of tons of pollutants in 2017.
• These standards prevented between 1,900 and 4,400 PM2.5-related deaths in 2017, translating to monetary benefits of $18 to $41 billion.
• Health benefits from national appliance standards have been distributed relatively equitably. Communities designated as disadvantaged by Justice40, representing 33% of the total population, have received 36% of the health benefits.

Recommendations

• The US Department of Energy must meet legal deadlines for updating appliance efficiency standards to maximize public health benefits.
• Governments should expand outreach and incentives to promote efficient appliance adoption, prioritizing disadvantaged communities, renters, and low-income households.
• Engage disadvantaged communities and people of color in all stages of policy development and implementation.

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Additional Resources: 

Press Release

Federal energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment lead to cleaner air, creating health benefits. By conserving energy, standards reduce both indirect emissions (from power plants) and direct emissions (from fossil fuel appliances). This decreases human exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, a harmful form of particle pollution capable of entering the lungs and bloodstream and contributing to increased incidences of respiratory and cardiovascular health complications.

This factsheet summarizes the key findings from a recent report that estimates the distribution of public health benefits in disadvantaged communities in the United States. Specifically, it estimates the reductions in PM2.5-related deaths that can be attributed to standards adopted over a 30-year period and explores how standards can contribute to Justice40 Initiative goals.

Efficient appliances, lighting, and equipment are critical climate solutions, situated at the nexus of mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development.

However, not enough is being done to maximize their benefits. In this report, CLASP lays out actions that must be taken by 2030 to put the world on a pathway to net zero emissions and enable a just energy transition. Our research identifies the ten appliances most vital to meeting global climate mitigation targets and improving people’s lives: the Net Zero Heroes.

Visit the Net Zero Heroes site to read and download the report.

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, 15 countries signed onto the Super-efficient Appliance and Equipment Deployment (SEAD) Initiative Appliance Efficiency Call to Action—estimated to be the largest energy efficiency commitment ever. The 15 signatories pledged to double the energy efficiency of four priority product categories by 2030: air conditioners (ACs), lighting, electric motors, and refrigerators, which collectively account for more than 40% of global electricity consumption.

“Getting Appliances Back on Track: Assessing Global Efficiency Progress,” evaluates economies’ progress toward the goal of doubling product efficiency, including the 15 signatories plus four top-emitting economies. The report also provides insight into the leading policy levers for accelerating appliance efficiency efforts – including examples of effective implementation of key interventions like minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and appliance energy labeling.

Building upon the insights presented in Efficiency for Access’ 2021 Solar Appliance Technology Briefs, this Tech Trends series provides a window into the rapidly evolving appliances markets. This series synthesizes technical, impact and market research done by Efficiency for Access and partners into a digestible snapshot. It offers valuable insights into emerging trends and opportunities across various off-grid appropriate appliances that are most relevant to catalyzing energy access and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, along with a focus on identifying critical areas that require attention, complemented by specific recommendations.

The technologies covered in this series encompass:

• Electric cooking (e-cooking)
• Fans
• Refrigerators
• Solar mills
• Solar water pumps
• Walk-in cold rooms

We will be releasing the appliance market summaries successively over the next few months.

This comprehensive series aims to inform future strategies of industry stakeholders, providing a clear understanding of the market’s trajectory. It serves as a valuable, quick-read resource for a diverse audience, ranging from interested donors and newcomers to the appliance sector to seasoned industry players seeking a convenient reference for sharing with their respective networks.

Download the 2023 Tech Trends in Energy Access technology briefs.

About Efficiency for Access

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote renewable and energy efficient appliances to deliver clean energy to the world’s poorest people. It is coordinated jointly by CLASP and the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.

Table and wall-mounted fans are common appliances for circulating cool breezes and regulating temperatures. Due to their portability and affordability, they are in high demand in India.

India’s fan industry generates over 60 million units annually, valued at around INR 8,000 crores (USD 1.07 billion; 2018–19), projected to exceed USD 2 billion by 2023. Growing presence of organized retail outlets, increasing spending power, and rising preference for online sales platforms and modular homes are expected to boost demand for electric fans in India over the coming years. This will be further boosted by the India Cooling Action Plan, which was launched in 2019 and has a long-term vision to address cooling demand across sectors.

Given the opportunity to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy consumption, CLASP collaborated with ICF Consulting India Pvt. Limited to conduct a thorough market assessment and technical analysis of table and wall-mounted fans. The study covers product sales, import and export trends, available Indian test standards and test facilities, international labeling program comparisons, and recommendations to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for transitioning to a mandatory energy efficiency program.

The team reached out to relevant stakeholders and key industry players with structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews, providing the following insights:

• Manufacturing of table and wall-mounted fans increased from FY 2018-19 to FY 2019-20, followed by a decline in FY 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Significant proportion of the current table and wall-mounted fan market in India is met through imports due to:
• high domestic costs for raw materials
• high domestic fuel costs
• competitive pricing of Chinese-manufactured fans (15%-20% cheaper)
• Fan exports have been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5%.

• Fan models are categorized based on their sweep size. The highest market demand and manufacturing are observed for fans with a 400 mm sweep size (81%).
• Indian market offers 65+ manufacturers, 1,000+ variants of these fans with varying sweep sizes.

BEE has made the table and wall-mounted fan labelling program voluntary from March 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024. 

As per the analysis, it is estimated that India’s fan market could reach 11.1 million by 2030. Implementation of the policy is projected to save 1.8 TWh electricity and 1.5 MtCO2 emissions.