Climate impact and challenges of OGS products

OGS can be a vital, low-emission addition to a country’s electricity mix

Off-grid solar (OGS) offers a climate-friendly alternative to traditional grid expansion for increasing electrification and meeting rising energy demands. OGS significantly lowers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuel–based energy generation—particularly coal, natural gas, and diesel. Because it generates energy where that energy is used, OGS also eliminates transmission losses, which means less electricity needs to be generated, further reducing GHG emissions. OGS also obviates the environmental impact of constructing and expanding grid infrastructure, especially in remote, low-density areas where many unelectrified populations reside.

OGS provides a more reliable source of energy in regions with unstable grid systems, reducing the need for fossil fuel-powered backup solutions. Even when grid access exists, electricity may be insufficient or too inconsistent to meet users, needs. Nearly 1.6 billion people are affected by unreliable grids, often relying on diesel generators or other fossil fuel–based backup systems. OGS can serve both as a primary power source that avoids frequent outages and as a climate-friendly backup or supplementary system to unreliable grid connections.

Although the production of OGS has a significant climate impact, the lifetime GHG emissions of OGS products are lower than those of traditional systems. The production phase accounts for the majority (60–70%) of the energy requirements of OGS products; minimal emissions occur during the operational life of solar panels. Given that initial emission levels are not very high and are effectively spread out over a long period of operation, the resulting lifecycle emissions are relatively low. A 2012 meta-analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of 400 studies on the carbon footprint of residential and utility-scale solar photovoltaic cells (PVs) found that solar power generated 1/25th the CO2 emissions as coal per unit of energy produced. Since the study was conducted, the efficiency of solar technology has increased by over 50%, further decreasing emissions per kwH. An important factor in achieving low lifecycle emissions for OGS products is ensuring a long average lifespan for solar PVs. While VeraSol-verified OGS products typically meet this standard, many non-affiliated products fall short in durability. Lifecycle emissions are significantly higher for these unverified products, which underscores the climate argument for prioritizing high-quality, durable products rather than compromising on quality to achieve faster adoption.

While OGS solutions are a low emissions technology, their use also has detrimental environmental impacts that must be curtailed

OGS solutions pose additional environmental challenges that need to be addressed. OGS products generate waste when they reach the end of their life cycle (and during their life cycle, for those systems that rely on batteries). The absence of waste management regulations for the OGS market presents a significant environmental challenge; as the use of solar PVs expands, the amount of waste generated is expected to increase rapidly. Sub-Saharan Africa generated an estimated 12 kilotons of OGS waste in 2020 alone; India is expected to generate a total of nearly 600 kilotons of solar waste by 2030.

Early replacement of OGS products will become the main generator of solar waste. Early replacement can happen for three reasons: low-quality, short-lived products; premature failure due to improper installation / repair / use of products; and people moving up the energy ladder, i.e., upgrading to higher-capacity products. The proliferation of low-quality OGS products is a clear driver of solar waste; so, too, might be incentives that are offered to people to buy more / higher-grade OGS products to replace their existing ones. Overall, early replacements are expected to generate 315,000 metric tons of waste in just four years.

Solar water pumps (SWPs), in particular, have also been linked to environmental degradation. The ease of using SWPs can lead to the over-extraction of water and the depletion of aquifers—either due to the expansion of productive acreage, a shift to more water-intensive, commercially attractive crops, or an incentive to sell extracted water to other farmers. Countries like India are particularly vulnerable—farmers already pump 50 cubic miles more water than is replaced by rains, while the government plans to increase the number of SWPs in operation to 3.5 million in 2026. Similarly, in Yemen, excessive pumping of groundwater aided by solar power has led to a significant drop in the water table despite above average rainfall.

A comprehensive electrification plan using OGS needs to consider the impact of the product beyond its productive life. Producer responsibility organizations (PROs), for example, have had some success working with producers and suppliers to collect and recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste in the SSA context, relying on a network of local and informal scrap dealers. However, the overall cost dynamics of recycling currently don’t work. Governments and other stakeholders need to: