Surveys in several LDCs suggest that solar lighting leads to significant reductions in lighting spending, lower C02 emissions, health benefits (especially for women and children, who typically spend more time indoors) and educational improvements (by allowing longer or more flexible study time)16 (Grimm et al., They can also make some contribution to productive use, for example by allowing smallholder farmers to use ICTs, thereby improving access to market information, agricultural extension and basic financial services (UNCTAD, 2015b, Bhatia and Angelou, 2015). Prior to electrification, renewable energy can be harnessed directly to diversify income sources and enhance labour productivity in non-farming activities and food processing through non-electrical technologies, such as solar tunnels for drying and evaporative refrigerators. ( While the take-up of similar devices would likely be constrained by the availability of funds for end-use investments, LDCs' producers, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), might benefit significantly from harnessing the scope for technological adaptation and “frugal innovations” in the field of end-use productive technologies, including those compatible with off-grid systems (Prahalad, 2006).