More than one in five people in the world, mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, lack access to electricity. There are high hopes that solar energy can leapfrog the electric grid in these areas similar to how cell phones have surpassed the landline system around the world.

There is great reason to believe that this will happen — and it all starts with the economics of solar energy. In off-grid communities around the world solar energy is now economically viable with no subsidies and often with very short financing terms. In terms of affordability, off-grid is the low hanging fruit of the solar energy industry. The opportunity is a big one. A recent McKinsey study projects 40-50 GW of potential solar projects in the off-grid and isolated grid markets.

When you hear about people living without electricity, it’s easy to think it’s all about poor lighting and darkness. Well over a billion people use kerosene lamps and candles for lighting. Kerosene is just a bad deal all around — it’s very expensive ($1+/kWh equivalent), low quality, causes serious indoor air pollution, and is a leading cause of fires and burns. Solar powered lights solve this problem, and are changing lives around the world with higher quality, safer and less costly lighting.

Lighting, however is just part of the off-grid energy story. Increasingly, the story is about how cell phones and the need for power are linked. Cell phones are significantly increasing both the demand for and the viability of solar energy in off-grid communities. Below are five reasons why the solar energy opportunity in off-grid markets will be driven by cell phones.

via 5 reasons why the off grid solar revolution will be driven by cell phones — Cleantech News and Analysis.