Developing countries in Asia can leapfrog old fossil-fuel energy systems and promote the use of environment-friendly solar-power systems as their growing economies need more and more energy.

By 2050, 85% of the world’s estimated 9.7 billion people will live in emerging countries, and about 70% will live in cities, according to a United Nations report. Growing populations will lead to soaring energy demands in the mega-cities that will continue to sprawl.

Small-scale solar systems would be better for developing countries than big solar farms since they have less of an environmental impact and are more suited to the dense urban environments where the power is needed.

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Read the working paper

https://www.adb.org/publications/financing-solar-photovoltaic-transitions-utility-residential-market-adoption

About the authors

Ranaporn Tantiwechwuttikul is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of the University of Tokyo.

Masaru Yarime is an associate professor at the School of Energy and Environment of the City University of Hong Kong.

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