Geography, community, household: Adoption of distributed solar power across India

We investigate the determinants of distributed solar technology adoption at the village and household level in India. Using spatial data on insolation, census records, and original surveys, we show that remote and poor but large villages with abundant sunshine have led the wave of solar technology adoption as an alternative to grid electricity. At the household level, however, wealth and financial access are positively associated with solar technology adoption, a result that holds for both solar lanterns and home systems. Moreover, remote villages are more likely to see solar technology adoption when households have access to finance through banks. We also find that the use of household solar technology is strongly associated with a household's subjective satisfaction with domestic lighting. These results demonstrate that understanding solar technology adoption requires considering both community and household characteristics. They also underscore the importance of financial access as a precondition for using distributed solar power as an alternative to grid connectivity.