Who is willing to pay for solar lamps in rural India? A longitudinal study

Abstract Solar lamps are a quick, affordable, and effective way to provide basic lighting for households in rural areas of developing countries. However, implementers and researchers argue that the market for solar products is hampered by a lack of awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for solar technology. In this paper, we investigate awareness of solar products, household motivation to adopt solar technology, household perception of solar lamps when compared to kerosene-based lighting devices, and lastly, the availability of electricity after dark. We analyzed a repeated-measures (longitudinal) data of 1159 rural households in energy-poor villages in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, India. Longitudinal logistic regression analyses were performed to study how various factors influence users WTP for solar lamps at Indian market price (~8.61 US$) over time. We find that households awareness of various solar products and their motivation to adopt solar technology has increased over time but there is much room to grow awareness in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, especially for solar home systems and solar water pumps. Our model predicted that the households WTP for solar lamps at the market price increased with high income but it is significantly moderated by their level of awareness of solar products and their motivation to adopt solar technology. These findings suggest that increasing awareness of solar products through various dissemination programs leading to significant interest in solar products among people which in turn may enhance their WTP for solar products.