More Than Illumination: Addressing Energy Poverty Through Design by Chad Groshart

Yet access to modern energy remains a profound global challenge with over a billion people lacking electricity worldwide. Energy poverty — the lack of affordable, reliable energy for lighting, cooking, heating, and other essential activities — continues to limit health, education, safety, and economic opportunity across much of the world. The vast majority of those experiencing energy poverty live in the Global South. Sub-Saharan Africa remains particularly affected, while India continues to face significant energy access challenges. Similar disparities persist across parts of South America and the Caribbean, where millions of people still lack reliable access to electricity and modern energy services.

For many families, darkness still means relying on a match, a candle, or a kerosene lamp. These sources of energy introduce not only poor-quality lighting but also significant health and safety risks, including respiratory illness and fire hazards. There is also a financial cost, as some families spend up to 25 percent of their income on kerosene to light their homes. Imagine how much more education, healthcare, and nutrition could be accessed with those funds. And while solar technology is becoming more affordable, for populations living on less than $2 USD a day, a solar lantern could easily be two months of a family income, and a devastating financial blow should the technology fail.

These conditions highlight the critical relationship between lighting, health, and usable space. 

Many indigenous communities already design buildings to maximize daylight through large shade porches and concrete block windows. The greater challenge is extending the usefulness of those spaces after the sun sets. Controllable light after dark is what is needed and without grid power activities at home, school, and community facilities effectively shrink to daylight hours, further impacting development opportunities within already under-resourced communities.

What can be done? 

The World Bank has several initiatives aimed at energy poverty like ​“Mission 300” that has a goal to power 300 million homes before 2030. So often the challenge with these community-based solutions is the administration of the program and ensuring it is equitable for all. The World Bank has spent $9 Billion so far and has made great strides in improving access but it is a slow process. 

However, even small projects can make big impacts to communities with few resources. 

I brought grad students from my Parson’s School of Design class entitled ​“Lighting and the Developing World” after responding to a Request for Proposal from the local government in Anse-à-Galet for a solar lighting project in the wharf area. The students selected one of three potential projects and began the design process. With a rough idea and budget in place, we flew from New York City to Port-Au-Prince. 

Once settled into our home stay, we were able to make an intervention using large solar panels, 6‑volt golf cart batteries, and LED lamps to light up a waiting area for those boarding ferries and speed boats to get back to the main island. The team of grad students worked hard digging trenches, wiring batteries and ultimately getting all the circuits rung out to work properly in the shade structure. A week of perseverance and sweat brought a lighted waiting area into the heavily used wharf, a benefit to all who must travel by boat on and off the island. 

Lighted public spaces serve as an indicator that communities are organized and have potential for investment by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or private investors. For populations that are food insecure part of the year, prioritizing infrastructure over individual need sometimes feels like it is missing the mark, but long term provides capacity for the entire area, not just light for one family or building. As designers, we were happy to build something needed for the population and provide a signal to others that La Gonâve has new resources and is ready for further development.

Lighting designers, planners, engineers, NGOs, and global institutions all have a role to play in expanding access to safe, reliable light. Whether through international initiatives, advancing solar technologies, or community-scale interventions like the project in La Gonâve, thoughtful infrastructure can unlock education, economic opportunity, and public safety after dark. For those of us who work with light every day, these experiences are a reminder that illumination is more than design. It is a fundamental tool for human development. By continuing to support and advocate for accessible lighting solutions, we can help ensure that the transformative power of light reaches the communities that need it most.