Breaking into the photovoltaic energy transition for rural and remote communities: challenging the impact of awareness norms and subsidy schemes

The energy poverty cycle remains a twofold barrier as part of energy transitions. Nations must support the provision of affordable and reliable power and concurrently address nationally agreed carbon reduction targets. Decentralised solar photovoltaic (PV) is a viable option to achieve universal energy access in rural areas, while it concurrently decarbonises energy generation, but often remains in tension with traditional centralised generation and distribution systems. Lack of awareness of PV technologies is seen as one of the major barriers limiting the deployment of decentralised systems in rural areas. This study explores awareness of PV systems drawing from over 700 household semi-structured surveys within Uttar Pradesh, India. We found existing awareness-raising campaigns, and subsidies for promoting PV technologies in rural areas are not effective with households preferring word of mouth, experiential learning and village-level awareness programmes than conventional electronic and print media advertising, as preferred by the government and private sectors. This lack of awareness also extends to subsidies for solar PV otherwise used to support this technology deployment and transition. We suggest locally organised and locally delivered targeted campaigns covering product knowledge, functionality and information on financing provisions for procuring solar PV system including how this relates to subsidies could be more effective to promote solar PV in the rural market. As public awareness precedes solar PV adoption, these findings can be insightful for policymakers, investors and the private enterprises to improve existing informational programmes and devise effective campaigns supporting the demand and therefore development of rural solar PV market.