Off-grid appliance performance testing: results and trends for early-stage market development

High-quality, efficient, and off-grid appropriate appliances play an essential role in developing the distributed clean energy market—but little data or market intelligence exists to help market actors make informed decisions. To fill this significant knowledge gap, CLASP, in support of the Efficiency for Access Coalition, has developed the Off-Grid Appliance Data Platform: an off-grid appliance performance database. Based on analysis of the test data from the Platform, the paper provides a glimpse into the current status, efficiency and cost trends, and remaining challenges gleaned from the off-grid television, fan, and refrigeration market—top three appliances with significant potential to scale. The analyses show a wide variation in the efficiency of products across the market. Efficiency improvements are observed, albeit slowly. Analysis shows that prices are decreasing, but have not yet reached a level of affordability for off-grid consumers in Africa and South Asia. Through the appliance performance testing results and market trends, the authors of this paper hope to enhance the global knowledge about off-grid appliances performance. Further research and data collection around sales trends will enhance the comprehensiveness and robustness of future analyses of off-grid appliances.