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Off-grid photovoltaic systems have been proposed as a panacea for economies with poor electricity access, offering a lower-cost "leapfrog" over grid infrastructure used in higher-income economies. Previous research examining pathways to electricity access may understate the role of off-grid photovoltaics as it has not considered reliability and carbon pricing impacts. We perform high-resolution geospatial analysis on universal household electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa that includes these aspects via least-cost pathways at different electricity demand levels. Under our "Tier 3" demand reference scenario, 24% of our study's 470 million people obtaining electricity access by 2030 do so via off-grid photovoltaics. Including a unit cost for unmet demand of 0.50 US dollars ($)/kWh, to penalise poor system reliability increases this share to 41%. Applying a carbon price (around $80/tonne CO2-eq) increases it to 38%. Our results indicate considerable diversity in the level of policy intervention needed between countries and suggest several regions where lower levels of policy intervention may be effective. This study investigates the role of off-grid solar in achieving SDG7 in Africa, focusing on understanding the impact of carbon pricing and supply reliability. It uses high-resolution spatial analysis and demand modelling to explore policy interventions for universal electricity access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a field-trial of organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology used within a practical application for rural electrification in Rwanda. Fourteen, large area, flexible, ITO-free, roll-to-roll processed OPV modules, encapsulated with low-cost materials, were installed on corrugated steel roofs at two sites in a rural village in Southern Rwanda and subject to continuous monitoring. This field-trial exposed modules to very high levels of insolation, in particular in the UV, high temperatures and heavy rainfall. Results show that the modules exhibit practical lifetimes (to degrade by 20% of their initial capacity) of between 2½ and 5 months, a value 5–6 times lower than control modules kept both in the dark and outdoors in Roskilde, Denmark. Degradation was primarily the result of extensive delamination caused by failure of the non-UV stable encapsulation, which led to decay in the FF, V oc and I sc of the module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]