Energy access and pandemic-resilient livelihoods: The role of solar energy safety nets

Lack of energy access undermines the socio-economic conditions of households, reducing their resilience, particularly in the face of disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of millions of poor rural households, who live in remote and difficult-to-reach areas, are still without access to energy. Solar energy safety nets, in the form of targeted social assistance programs and off-grid technological solutions, do not only advance energy access but also develop capacities of households to prepare for, respond to, and recover from specific threats like pandemics. We discuss ongoing solar energy safety net programs in the largest off-grid solar markets of Bangladesh, India, Kenya, and Nigeria, and how such programs are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that solar energy safety net programs should be maintained and updated to emphasize their potential for building pandemic-resilient livelihoods. These programs can be supported with efforts to build local value chains and economies based on clean electricity. Well-designed solar energy safety net policies generate multiple co-benefits, including the resilience of households to pandemics.