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Title: Frugal energy innovations for developing countries - a framework
Year: 2016
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Frugal energy innovations for developing countries – a

framework
Sini Numminen & Peter D. Lund
School of Science, Aalto University, PO Box 15100, Espoo FI-00076, Aalto, Finland

Impact Statement: The research conducted addresses the global energy challenge through the frugality concept, which repre-
sents a novel and affordable way to provide services to people living in developing countries. Energy frugality is based on ef-
fective use of local renewable energy and other resources. Here, we present a framework for identifying and developing
frugal energy innovations. Wide dissemination of this concept may alleviate global energy poverty in a sustainable manner.

Keywords Abstract
Developing countries, energy frugality, frugal
innovations, frugality, renewable energy, Frugal innovations have recently emerged to feature low-cost technologies and busi-
resource-scarcity, sustainable energy. ness innovations to serve consumers in emerging markets and improve their quality
of life. Although the concept of frugality is well known, the present literature on frugal
Correspondence energy innovations, or energy frugality, is scarce, which could lead to overlooking its
Sini Numminen, School of Science, Aalto true characteristics. Therefore, we propose a framework for defining energy frugality
University, PO Box 15100, Espoo, FI-00076 based on a detailed analysis of several low-cost sustainable energy technologies. The
Aalto, Finland.
five-criteria assessment method developed will help to identify potential frugal energy
E-mail: sini.numminen@aalto.fi
innovations and will increase the adoption of these technologies through better
Received: 08 April 2016; Revised: 22 July 2016; matching to local needs. Fuel-efficient biomass cooking stoves, small-scale photovol-
Accepted: 26 July 2016 taic systems, and pico-grids are examples of such frugal energy technologies.

doi: 10.1002/gch2.1012

Reviewing Editor
Stéphane Hallegate, World Bank, Climate Group,
Washington, D.C., and approved July 26, 2016.

Introduction Affordability influences access to energy services. Typically,

the poorest quintiles of populations spend a substantial part of
Energy is a necessity for progress and a better living standard, their income in fuels and energy services (Bacon et al. 2010) or
and it is crucial for human wellbeing (UN 2010). Global access other basic services (Prahalad 2005). In India for example,
to modern energy services is an important target set by many 11% of a household's income on average goes to fuels and en-
international organizations as well as national governments ergy services (Bacon et al. 2010). In Kenya or Uganda, where
(Brew-Hammond 2010; IEA 2011). However, 2.7 billion people the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is less than
still live without access to clean cooking facilities and 1.2 billion $800, people in off-grid areas may spend up to $80 a year on
without access to electricity (IEA 2015). Nearly all of these peo- mobile phone charging services only (Manchester and Swan
ple live either in sub-Saharan African or Asian countries, mostly 2013). In comparison, EU households spend around 4% of
in rural areas. Introducing clean and efficient technologies that their income on energy (Gerstberger and Yaneva 2013).
provide domestic energy services is clearly important to these re- The lack of modern energy services often leads to using
gions, in particular for improved food preparation, space and polluting alternatives, such as kerosene, or using inefficiently
water heating, lighting, small appliances, and communication. local energy sources, such as fuel wood. For example, solid

© 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries S. Numminen & P. D. Lund

Impact Box: Over one billion people in developing countries live without any modern energy services. This study combats energy poverty through so-
called frugal energy innovations, which are affordable and sustainable energy innovations for poor people. Frugal energy innovations are based on ef-
fective use of local resources and skills, and renewable energy. Energy frugality is a new concept and has not yet been well defined. In this study, we
provide a framework for frugal energy innovations to better help identify and further develop these kinds of technologies in the future. The potential
for energy frugality is huge and urgent, considering the challenges faced by people in less-developed countries. Indirectly, frugal energy products have a
positive impact on climate change mitigation, food, water, and health issues as energy often helps to provide these services as well.
The solar photovoltaics (PV) pico-grid system of Boond Engineering & Development Pvt Ltd. in Sathara village in North India. Photo: Boond (www.
boond.net)

biomass in different forms is still the main energy source for Economic constraints are, in particular, tied to the low
cooking and heating in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian re- purchasing power of consumers and the technical constraints
gions, but its use is inefficient causing serious health problems to insufficient infrastructures. For example, the lack of reliable
and such environmental damage as deforestation (Sesan 2012). access to grid electricity in an Indian town motivated the
Clearly, introducing modern energy technologies could sig- development of a cheap clay fridge for food storage, which
nificantly improve the situation (Jannuzzi and Goldemberg works without electricity (Praceus 2014).
2012). Local renewable electricity production, such as photo- The academic literature on frugal innovation is still limited,
voltaics (PV) or micro-grids, is becoming viable options in and it has mainly been discussed within the business regime.
developing countries (REN21 2015). Unfortunately, the adop- Scientific literature on frugal innovations in providing energy
tion of different sustainable energy technologies still remains services is also very scarce and often focuses on case studies
modest, calling for intensified efforts to improve the situation only (Levänen et al. 2015). The question of environmental
(IEA and World Bank 2015). One of the reasons for slow sustainability, which is always important in the case of energy,
adoption may be insufficient understanding of local cultures may not have received adequate attention in this context
and their institutional capacities for a pervasive adoption of (Brem and Ivens 2013); although, several examples demon-
new technologies (Murphy 2001; Carr 1985). strate that the technologies chosen may fulfill the sustainabil-
In response, several technology movements have histori- ity criteria (Basu et al. 2013).
cally been introduced along with industrialization in develop- Because of the importance of improved energy services to
ing countries. The appropriate technology movement poor countries on the one hand, and the lack of
(Pattnaik and Dhal 2015) emphasized adjusting imported understanding of the theoretical and practical significance
technologies into the local social environment. The intermedi- of frugal innovations for energy on the other hand, this paper
ate technology movement highlighted the importance of small aims to better conceptualize frugal innovations for the energy
entrepreneurship in the transition (Schumacher 1974). When sector including criteria for defining and characterizing such
introducing modern energy services to poor communities, innovations. To our knowledge, such an analysis has not yet
involvement of local entrepreneurship may better help to been performed. The kind of systematic approach proposed
understand local consumer's preferences and adjust imported here could be beneficial for the future development and de-
technology to local needs (Hansen et al. 2014). ployment of sustainable energy technologies for less devel-
Recently, frugal innovations have emerged to address the oped countries, in particular to more effectively harness
accessibility of new technologies in developing countries, in local resources, skills, and labor. Also, the adoption of tech-
particular because frugal technologies have a lower purchase nologies that are better connected to local know-how and
price than alternatives. These types of innovations involve conditions could address the sustainability question more ef-
small entrepreneurs or larger companies that succeed in ficiently than when just applying imported technology.
overcoming the poverty gap and the lack of material The paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we briefly
resources, as well as several other practical problems in overview the extant literature on frugal innovations. In Sec-
providing novel innovative solutions or services to people at tion 3, we review frugal innovations in the energy sector to un-
the bottom of the economic pyramid (Radjou et al. 2012). derstand their characteristics, and based on this, sketch a

2 © 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
S. Numminen & P. D. Lund Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries

framework for frugal energy innovations. In Section 4, we As the concept of frugal innovation is quite new, the theo-
suggest a more detailed set of criteria for their definition. retical framework for frugality may still need to be improved
The paper ends with a discussion and conclusions. (Bhatti and Ventresca 2013) as there is sometimes conceptual
overlap to other resource-scarce innovations (Cunha et al.
2014; Soni and Krishnan 2014). Frugal innovations
differentiate themselves often through some novel technical
Frugal and Other Resource-Constrained
feature or business model compared with just a cheaper prod-
Innovation Concepts
uct (Zeschky et al. 2014). Sometimes, similar products named
To understand energy frugality or frugal innovations in en- as frugal in emerging markets are found in industrialized
ergy, we first look at the extant literature on frugal innova- countries but with different purpose, for example, the
tions. Mainly studied in business studies and product portable thermocouple fridge (Tiwari and Herstatt 2012). In
design, a frugal innovation refers to simple but competitive this case, the technical novelty is not obvious, but instead,
innovations that have gained a breakthrough status in an the purpose is which was fulfilling the cold storage needs of
emerging market among consumers with a low purchasing the people in India.
power (Radjou et al. 2012). Well-known examples of frugal It is important to note that several successful frugal innova-
innovations can be found among health care or telecommu- tions reported have originated from large international or
nications products, for example, the portable electrocardio- multinational companies such as Haier, Lenovo, Nokia,
gram by General Electric or the robust Nokia 1100 mobile General Electric, Tata, and Renault-Nissan. Initially, the
phone, which were made affordable through simplified concept of frugal engineering was raised by Renault stating
product architectures. The Nokia 1100 with a robust and that frugal innovations could be a great opportunity for
low-power design was sold for just $15–20 and was once successful business in emerging markets by integrating the
the best-selling mobile phone worldwide (Sehgal et al. resourceful mindset of ingenious Indian engineers into the
2010). product development processes (Sehgal et al. 2010; Radjou
The core characteristics of a frugal innovation are engineer- 2014). A frugal innovation initially designed for emerging
ing simplicity as the use of raw materials and other resources markets may sometimes also find its way to industrialized
needs to be minimized, which results in lower manufacturing countries, but then, it is called a reverse innovation
cost (Rao 2013). Product simplifications could lead to consid- (Govindarajan et al. 2012).
erable energy savings as well; for example, simplified design Resource-scarce innovations created by poor people them-
and reduced size of an automated teller machine dropped selves in their own living surroundings resemble frugal inno-
the power consumption by 80% compared with a standard vations. Such innovations are often called indigenous
unit (Bound and Thornton 2012). Other important features innovations (Gupta 2006) or grass-roots innovations (Kumar
of frugal technologies are robustness and durability, especially and Bhaduri 2014; Pattnaik and Dhal 2015). Common fea-
in products that are used in remote areas. tures of these are that local professional expertise is utilized

Table 1. Four cases of energy services defined as frugal innovations in literature.

Name Description Energy services provided Reason for frugality Reference Innovator

Husk Micro-grid where the power is made Lighting, charging Technical: Frugalized technology (Bhatti and Local
Power of rice husk (Gupta et al. 2013) mobile phones and producing lower product Ventresca company
System other appliances manufacturing costs 2012)
(product)
Mitticool Refrigerator made out of clay which Food storage Lower product price (than electric (Rao 2013) Private
(product) functions without electricity. Based fridges). Frugal energy use: no craftsman
on the cooling effect of water maintenance costs and zero energy and
evaporation (Praceus 2014) consumption. Simple technology entrepreneur
SELCO Social enterprise providing various Lighting, domestic hot Business: Novel energy business (Radjou Local
(company) small-scale solar products for low- water model allowing affordable energy et al. 2012) company
income customers services for the poor
Boond Energy access company providing Lighting, charging Business: Networked energy business (Urpelainen Local
LTD various small-scale renewable energy mobile phones and model for sales and customer support and Yoon company
(company) products for low-income customers other appliances (pico- in Indian villages 2014)
grids). Food
preparations

© 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 3
Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries S. Numminen & P. D. Lund

to modify or improve the product, and they enable a service the environments where they are being used (Levänen et al.
delivery at a much lower price. For example, using a bicycle 2015). This applies to energy as well.
for water pumping or constructing a wind turbine from
recycled materials (Kamkwamba 2010).
Analysis of Possible Frugal Innovations
Frugal innovations by definition serve the underserved
in Energy
populations in developing countries (Gupta 2011; Radjou
et al. 2012), but only few analyses have been made on the Next, we analyze several low-cost technology innovations in
societal appropriateness of different frugal technologies in the energy sector to better understand their frugal

Table 2. Examples of locally manufactured and frugally engineered technologies for household-level energy use.

Energy Details for frugal Relation to local

services product energy use and the
Name Description provided Reference architecture society Innovator Country

Cookit Semi- Food (SCInet 2015) Simple and robust Minimal costs. Local Non-profit USA
concentrating solar preparation design: only manufacturing organization (international)
cooker ideal for cardboard, possible without
off-grid areas with aluminum foil and advanced skills and
high solar glue required tools
insolation
Energy Locally Lighting, (Barbosa and Simple electronics Project employs local Collaborative US & UG
made in manufacturable charging Petersen 2013) and the PV system people in project of a
Uganda and serviceable mobile design manufacturing university and
robust solar home phones centers. The battery a community
system and other type chosen is widely organization
small available in Uganda
appliances
Barefoot Training semi- Lighting, (Ashden Simple electronics Depends on the Non- IN & global
college literate villagers charging Awards 2003); and the PV system success in setting up governmental
“solar mamas” mobile (Panda 2015) design and running the organization
from all around the phones manufacturing centers (NGO)
world to and other of “solar mamas” in
manufacture, small their home countries
install and appliances
maintain solar
lighting systems
Liter of Light source Lighting (World Habitat Robust product Minimal costs. Local NGO PH
Light Awards 2014) design. Needed is a manufacturing
(Day) PET bottle, water possible without
and some fastening advanced skills or
materials tools. Suitable for
informal settlements
Open- Locally Lighting. (Piggott 2001) Simplified turbine Affordable electricity. Private UK &
source manufacturable Electricity design. Certain Local manufacturing innovator international
wind wind turbine, for small parts, such as possible in workshops
turbine several designs and wooden blades, can equipped with basic
medium- be made of locally tools
size available materials
appliances
Thermo- Modular solar Domestic (Weiss and Solar thermal Affordability: saves International ZI & AT
siphon thermal water hot water Schwarzmüller technologies are expensive electricity research and
solar heater 2001) robust by nature: typically used for development
water absorber is made of water heating in cooperation
heater thin copper sheet Zimbabwe. Local project
metal, copper pipes manufacturing possi-
and coated with ble in workshops
solar varnish equipped with basic
tools

4 © 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
S. Numminen & P. D. Lund Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries

characteristics and to provide evidence for defining the frame-

work for frugal energy innovations later in Section 4.
We start by analyzing four cases in Table 1, which have been
defined in literature as frugal energy innovations (strong evi-
dence). Basing on this, we extract their common characteristics.
Finally in Tables 2 and 3, we analyze further technology examples
from the perspectives of sustainability and local appropriateness.
The analyses will follow a common framework shown in Figure 1. Process leading to energy frugality.
Figure 1 to identify energy frugality or features linked to it out-
going from the basic definition of frugal innovations.
Bhatti and Ventresca (2012) defined Husk Power System in
Energy frugality as a concept has several implications as a re-
Table 1 as a frugal innovation because the technology can be
sult of the surrounding material and economic scarcities. Essen-
produced with lower manufacturing costs because of frugal
tially, the lack of resources leads to designing technologies and
technical redesign, such as manufacturing the distribution grid
products according to material-saving frugal engineering princi-
insulation poles from bamboo instead of iron. The energy busi-
ples, as presented by Rao (2013). In energy production, use of
ness has succeeded in bringing significantly more affordable
locally available energy sources is preferred, because they often
electricity to the poor villages in India, which relied earlier on
are more affordable. In addition, economic constraints may re-
kerosene and diesel (Ashden Awards 2011a; Gupta et al. 2013).
sult in thrifty and sparing uses of energy and in energy efficiency.
The business dimension of energy frugality is highlighted by
SELCO Solar Light Pvt Ltd. and Boond Engineering & Develop-
ment Pvt Ltd., who deliver small-scale solar electricity products
Analysis of potential frugal energy for the poor in India, both being awarded for their achievements
innovations (Ashden Awards 2009; Economic Times 2014). Frugality relates
here especially to the ability of these companies to carry out suc-
We found in existing literature a few technological innova- cessful business models enabling low-income consumers to pur-
tions in the energy sector that were defined as frugal innova- chase solar products. Both Boond (Urpelainen and Yoon 2014)
tions by the authors. These innovations, which are shown in and SELCO (Radjou et al. 2012) also arrange financial services
Table 1, relate to food preparation and storage and household for their customers with local banks.
lighting. All examples in Table 1 are from India, which may be While Solar Home Systems for private households is a stan-
because the discourse on frugality is strongest there. dard technology, also the technical product development

Table 3. Examples of frugally designed biomass stoves.

Relation with local energy

Name Description Reference Frugal architecture details uses and the society Innovator Country

Kenya Ceramic The most well- (Opole Minimizing the stove ceramic Significant savings in Project by the KN
Jiko (KCJ) Stove known example of 1988) liner size leads to a thrifty use of household biomass Kenyan govern-
a fuel efficient local raw material (clay). expenditure compared to ment and aid
biomass cooking Claddings made of leftover open fire. Elements organizations
stove metal parts from large manufacturing and assembly
industries by local small industries
Upesi stove A simplified and (Flavin Further simplification by More affordable purchase Project by the KN
more affordable and Aeck removal of few metal parts price (than KCJ), while the Kenyan govern-
version of the 2004) same price of the energy ment, aid orga-
Kenya Ceramic service (cooking) nizations and
Jiko, targeted for women's
rural areas groups
Toyola Energy Producing and (Ashden Robust and simple design, Significant savings in Small enterprise GH
Ltd “coalpot” selling fuel efficient Awards similar to KCJ stove household biomass
stoves charcoal stoves 2011b) expenditure. Elements
manufacturing and assembly
by local small industries
Thermoelectric Cook stoves for (Horman Robust and simple design. Affordable energy service Product design NI & US
cook stove impoverished et al. Small thermoelectric couple (customers to save a month's project of a
“Nicaragua communities of 2013) improves the combustion salary on fuel in Nicaragua) university
energy” Nicaragua efficiency

© 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 5
Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries S. Numminen & P. D. Lund

work of these companies could deserve a closer look. Boond

has developed another kind of innovation, the solar pico-grid,
which is a small micro-grid that connects 5–50 households
into a direct current distribution grid. The households are
provided with a couple of LED light bulbs (à 3 W), a mobile
phone charging device, and a fan and a TV in the case of larger
grids (Kumar 2014). In every household, there is a frugally de-
signed energy meter (Fig. 2) displaying the instantaneous con-
sumption of energy and the availability of energy credits that
are purchased in advance in a pre-payment manner (Fig. 3).
Smart monitoring of the energy consumption on house-
hold level is an interesting feature of energy frugality. As a
matter of fact, the prepaid model is an integral feature in many
new micro-grids in India (Fatima and Srivastava 2014)
because it fits the unstable income of the consumers better
than a post-paid system.
Generally, the innovations in Table 1 help low-income
families to save in their energy expenditure, but the compari-
son with existing alternatives is not always straightforward as
shown in the following. For example, the price of electricity
from a solar pico-grid (D'Agostino et al. 2016) can be com-
pared with the costs of kerosene (Jain and Ramji 2016), if
lighting is the main purpose. A customer in Uttar Pradesh,
India, is typically charged 100 INR/kWh (1 INR = $0.015)
for the pico-grid electricity, which leads to a monthly bill of
140 INR for the lighting and mobile phone charging service
(including three lamps). A simple payback analysis based on
the investment cost (D'Agostino et al. 2016) and a 5-years cy-
cle yields a monthly cost of 158 INR. For comparison, with
kerosene lamps (5 h/day), using the 2015 kerosene prices
and accounting for the government subsidies gives a monthly Figure 3. The pre-payment dongle of a pico-grid for charging the solar
cost of 118–148 INR (Jain and Ramji 2016). In reality, many credits.

Figure 2. Energy meter of a pico-grid is an example of a frugal solar component.

6 © 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
S. Numminen & P. D. Lund Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries

rural areas in India do not enjoy of subsidized kerosene prices available nearly all around the world (e.g., PET bottles, alumi-
because of leakages in the national distribution system (Rao num foil, basic electronic components, and cardboard), which
2012), which would lead up to 175–250 INR. has been found characteristic to frugally engineered products
Another difficulty in the comparison arises from the differ- (Rao 2013). The panel style solar cooker (SCInet 2015) and
ent service levels; for example, LED light bulbs provide signif- the simple light source (World Habitat Awards 2014) can be
icantly higher illuminance level than kerosene lamps (Mills manufactured with only a couple of dollars all around the
2016); that is, two LED lamps could possibly offer the same world. After the initial investment, the energy service is avail-
service as three kerosene lamps. In addition, the pico-grid able for nearly zero costs.
provides other services such as mobile phone charging. It also Energy made in Uganda is a project by the Frugal Innova-
avoids health hazards typical to kerosene burning. Accounting tion Lab of Santa Clara University for training of local people
for all these benefits and the previous price comparison speaks to manufacture and maintain simple solar home systems, thus
for the solar pico-grid as an economic alternative. targeting the affordability and locality of energy services
Mainly because of the small size of the systems provided, (Barbosa and Petersen 2013; Energy Made in Uganda 2016).
technologies in Table 1 enable just basic energy services for Barefoot College is another example of an initiative to educate
lighting or mobile phone charging and not energy-intensive and employ people in developing countries to manufacture
services such as cooking. The sizing is also a trade-off between small solar PV systems (Ashden Awards 2003). The specific
income and service costs. In the pico-grid, the instantaneous potential of these two initiatives is that they do not only offer
power per household is limited to 30 W, which is a result of a technology but also involve the long-term technical sustain-
the delicate optimization of the small energy system. Also ability aspect. Lacking maintenance infrastructures and the
other kinds of demand-side management strategies have been lack of spare parts and the consequent system failures have
implemented, for example, limiting the power availability to been found to be a widespread problem with small PV systems
evenings (Boait 2014), a feature of micro-grids by another so- in developing countries (Díaz et al. 2013), (Nieuwenhout et al.
lar entrepreneur, Mera Gao Power, whose customers are 2001), (Kumar et al. 2000). Strengthening of local
among the most marginalized in northern India (Urpelainen manufacturing capabilities may respond to this.
2016). Energy frugality may not only be about an energy pro- As a matter of fact, the so-called do-it-yourself philosophies
ducing technology, but it could also enhance lower energy are connected to frugal innovation (Reardon 2013; Banerjee
consumption both in the supply and demand side. 2015). Wind turbine blades, for example, can be made out of lo-
cal wood material, if glass fiber is not available (Latoufis et al.
2015). Locally manufactured technologies, such as wind turbines,
Analysis of low-cost and local energy
could actually have a considerable potential for the local econo-
innovations
mies in low-income countries (Leary et al. 2012) linked to local
Next, we picked six further cases of sustainable energy innova- employment and education. Often, a basic level of education
tions used in emerging countries, not all of them defined as only is required to manufacture frugal energy technologies.
frugal technologies in the documentation, but which may in- As bioenergy in different forms is readily available in most
clude frugal aspects. We chose technologies for household- developing countries (Karekezi 2002) and cooking is a major
level energy use from different countries based on two impor- energy service, we also analyzed a set of biomass stoves to under-
tant criteria for frugal energy technologies: 1) energy delivery stand their possible frugal aspects. Table 3 lists four case stoves
at an affordable price and 2) technology design based on fru- chosen. By nature, the stoves are simple and based on local tech-
gal product design principles. Also, the technologies should nology, which could link them to frugal energy innovations.
have been successfully employed locally. However, we Some of the stoves could be even manufactured in workshops
excluded typical community development projects such as (Opole 1988); also, very energy-efficient stoves have been devel-
micro-hydro power as well as pure import of technology. oped, for example, the Kenyan Ceramic Jiko could save up to
Private grass-root innovations were also left out because of 50% of the fuel compared with open fire (Kammen 2000).
lacking technical information. We restrict ourselves to renew- Frugality, as described in Figure 1, is demonstrated by these
able energy sources, which have a strong link to sustainable stoves both at the product design side as well as at the user
development. side. Manufacturing of the KCJ and Upesi stoves can be
The list of energy innovations chosen is shown in Table 2. achieved with local and recycled materials; the stove ceramic
We observed that the technical simplicity often enables local liner sizes are designed so that only the minimum amount
manufacturing, either in workshops (wind turbines and solar of clay material is needed for insulation (Opole 1988). Ini-
systems) or even at home (small lighting units and solar tially, discarded metal drums from Nairobi's industries have
cookers). In some cases, a couple of components and parts been used as the metal claddings. At the energy user side,
need to be ordered from outside; but generally, the designs the stoves significantly contribute to the fuel saving and
rely on standardized and low-cost components that are hereby to the reduction in household energy expenditures.

© 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 7
Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries S. Numminen & P. D. Lund

Setting Criteria for Frugal Energy demonstrate aspects of energy efficiency from the end user's
side. Frugal ways of using energy mean modest output levels,
Based on the analyses in the previous Section, we next elabo-
and they mean a variety of ways for energy conservation, such
rate a proposal for key criteria to define frugal energy technol-
as temporal limitations of power availability at times of energy
ogy to provide affordable and sustainable energy for low-
shortage. The connection of energy frugality with energy effi-
income households in developing countries.
ciency shall be subject to further studies.
Starting with the product architecture, a frugal energy tech-
nology is manufactured with minimal use of resources, and
the technical design contains simplifications either in compo- Discussion and Conclusions
nent or system levels. This should enforce that a more afford-
Frugal innovations try to overcome the poverty gap by provid-
able product will result. The product design also incorporates
ing affordable products and services for people in developing
inherent functionality (Rao 2013). The durability of the tech-
countries and emerging economies. In this paper, we discuss
nology is a quality issue that needs special consideration, as the
the concept of frugal energy innovations and present a frame-
up-front investments and payback times may be considerable
work for defining these. We employed a two-stage analysis of
to people in poverty. Therefore, a rugged and persistent design
frugal technologies providing small-scale energy services for
(Basu et al. 2013) will be important to avoid a too-short prod-
low-income consumers. First, a set of energy service technolo-
uct lifetime (Ashden Awards 2011c).
gies that have already been characterized as frugal innovations
The organizational questions related to operations and
was investigated. It was found that the key frugality aspects were
maintenance are important as well. The installation, opera-
affordable energy services and a simplified technology design.
tion, and maintenance of frugal power systems may require
Because of scarcity of literature on frugal innovations, the
skilled personnel. For example in the case of PV systems, al-
second set of examples was collected on affordable and
though the PV panel is almost maintenance-free, the battery
sustainable energy technologies. Finally, a set of criteria for
unit may require frequent maintenance to ensure long-term
frugal and sustainable energy innovation was elaborated.
user satisfaction. Involving local skills for these kinds of
Fuel-efficient biomass cooking stoves, small-scale PV sys-
services means local employment.
tems, pico-grids, and other locally manufactured technologies
An important criterion to be set relates to sustainability,
are good examples of frugal energy technologies. The afford-
both in social and environmental contexts. These aspects have
ability is a central criterion for energy frugality, and it should
been highlighted less in the existing literature on frugal inno-
preferably be viewed at the energy service level as technology
vations. A sustainable energy solution makes use of the local
may provide a service to a larger community than just for a
and renewable energy sources and is also socially sustainable
single household, and in long-term. Affordability differs from
regarding the local culture and its habits in energy use prefer-
the pure price of technology, which because of lower
ences. For example, introducing a modern energy supply
manufacturing costs of a frugal innovation directly lead to a
system may not automatically make families willing to switch
lower purchasing price and thus better accessibility. Finally,
away from traditional cooking (Murphy 2001).
we proposed a five-criteria framework to define energy frugal-
Table 4 summarizes these criteria for frugal innovation in
ity, covering affordability, frugal engineering, frugal energy
energy. Curiously, frugal energy technologies also
use pattern, local appropriateness, and sustainability.
By definition, a frugal innovation addresses the needs of the
Table 4. Criteria for frugal and sustainable technologies providing energy
services. poor. As frugal energy innovations often involve quite low
power levels targeted to satisfy the basic needs only, for exam-
Main criteria Comments ple, through off-grid and stand-alone energy applications, an
Frugal design and Minimal use of resources important question will be if these innovations could become
manufacturing Simplified design mainstream energy options or would they rather represent
Durability temporary solutions only. Technically the scale-up would be
Affordability Low-cost product
easy, including direct current micro-grids that can be enlarged
Provision of a more affordable energy
to provide power for additional households and hamlets in the
service
Local appropriateness Socially fit for local user preferences nearby regions (Madduri et al. 2013). Micro-grids, in general,
Skills available for operation and are becoming an important energy solution in remote areas in
maintenance many developing countries because they can complement se-
Environmental sustainability Use of local renewable energy sources vere gaps in national power distribution systems (Palit and
Recycled materials Bandyopadhyay 2016). For the energy service companies,
Avoiding harmful substances however, the most modest power consumption levels of the
Frugal energy use pattern Efficient energy use and behavior
cost-conscious low-income customers make it a challenging
Modest energy output level
business (D'Agostino et al. 2016). Therefore, reaching large-

8 © 2016 The Authors. Global Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
S. Numminen & P. D. Lund Frugal Energy Innovations for Developing Countries

scale impact with the smallest off-grid PV systems may be dif- Bhatti, Y.A., Ventresca, M.. The Emerging Market for Frugal Inno-
ficult without external financial support. vation: Fad, Fashion, or Fit? (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. ID
Recognizing that the existing literature of frugal energy in- 2005983). Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY,
novations is very limited, future work on analyzing them 2012.
could be well motivated, as these may include new informa- Boait, P.J., 2014. Demand Management for Off-Grid Electricity
tion on frugality and functionality of technologies. Energy Networks, in: Bhattacharyya, S.C., Palit, D. (Eds.), Mini-Grids for
may also indirectly be present in other fields such as in agricul- Rural Electrification of Developing Countries. Springer Interna-
ture or telecommunications, which could offer interesting tional Publishing, Green Energy and Technology, pp. 135–144.
implications for energy frugality, and may thus also deserve Bound, K., Thornton, I.W., 2012. Our Frugal Future: Lessons from
a closer look. India's Innovation System. Nesta, London.
Brem, A., Ivens, B., 2013. Do Frugal and reverse innovation foster
sustainability? Introduction of a conceptual framework. Journal
Acknowledgments of Technology Management for Growing Economies 4, 31–50.
Brew-Hammond, A., 2010. Energy access in Africa: challenges
The authors wish to thank the Finnish Technology and Inno-
ahead. Energy Policy, Greater China Energy: Special Section with
vation Agency (TEKES) for financing through the New Global
regular papers 38, 2291–2301. DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.12.016.
Project and Mr Rustam Sengupta (CEO, Boond Engineering
Carr, M. (Ed), 1985. Introduction, in: The AT Reader: Theory and
& Development Pvt Ltd.) for providing technical information
Practice in Appropriate Technology. Intermediate Technology
on the pico-grid. Publ, London, pp. xiii–xvi.
Cunha, M.P.E., Rego, A., Oliveira, P., Rosado, P., Habib, N., 2014.
Conflict of Interest Product innovation in resource-poor environments: three re-
search streams. Journal of Product Innovation Management 31,
The authors declare no conflict of interest. 202–210. DOI:10.1111/jpim.12090.
D'Agostino, A.L., Lund, P.D., Urpelainen, J., 2016. The Business of
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