In the developing world fuel logistics are a major cost. Local solar+battery is quickly cheaper in the long run in areas where infrastructure is lacking. Howeve

In the developing world fuel logistics are a major cost. Local solar+battery is quickly cheaper in the long run in areas where infrastructure is lacking. However, access to capital is a major challenge. i.e. the upfront costs means the cheaper system does not get deployed. It is quite common that a family could afford 1$ of fuel a month for kerosene lamps, but not the 20$ for a solar charged battery led lamp. As the 20$ even if a great investment after 2 years is out of reach. Solar starts to make a whole lot of sense if there is no or only a primitive grid to hook into. i.e. compare the boom of mobile phone use in Africa. A KM of high quality copper wire is not cheap, either. To a central powerplant, distribution of fossil fuel to decentralized power plants is very expensive and very wasteful. The economically developing world has a great problem in accessing capital, not in investing it usefully.