RAISING AMBITIONS FOR OFF-GRID COOLING APPLIANCES

The report evaluates fans, refrigerators, air coolers, and air conditioners for off-grid use, linking their power requirements to the World Bank's Multi-Tier Framework (MTF). It finds that efficiency gains allow cooling services to be accessible at lower energy tiers than previously thought. The document proposes a quality criteria framework (Rating A-D) to help investors and development programmes identify 'best available technologies' and recommends the use of results-based financing (RBF) and third-party testing to scale the market for sustainable, climate-friendly cooling.

• Over 1 billion people across 54 high-impact countries are at high risk due to a lack of access to cooling, including 318 million in poor, rural settings who lack electricity.
• Technological advances in efficiency have enabled cooling appliances to be compatible with lower energy access tiers than previously identified in the Multi-Tier Framework (MTF). Specifically, off-grid fans and air coolers can now be linked to a minimum of Tier 1, refrigerators to Tier 2, and refrigerator-freezers and air conditioners to Tier 3.
• Off-grid fans have seen significant efficiency improvements, with average efficiency increasing by more than 49 percent between 2018 and 2019, largely due to the adoption of brushless direct current (BLDC) motors.
• Refrigerators are among the most difficult appliances to optimize for cost and efficiency; for some rural customers, the down payment for a 150L refrigerator can equal up to five times their disposable monthly income.
• Many off-grid refrigerators and air conditioners still use hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases with high global warming potential, such as R-410A in small split-room ACs, which has a GWP of 2100.
• The off-grid cooling market is characterized by a lack of standardized quality criteria and reliable performance data, making it difficult for stakeholders to establish market baselines or select high-performing products.
• Results-based financing (RBF) is identified as an effective strategy to catalyze the uptake of sustainable cooling by tying fund disbursement to independently verified results.
• To protect consumers and ensure investment impact, the report recommends that financing programmes implement third-party independent testing, use rolling eligibility to avoid locking out new technologies, and incorporate monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to track long-term field performance.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2021). RAISING AMBITIONS FOR OFF-GRID COOLING APPLIANCES. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-04/Offgrid-Cooling-Appliances-SEforALL.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. RAISING AMBITIONS FOR OFF-GRID COOLING APPLIANCES. 2021. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-04/Offgrid-Cooling-Appliances-SEforALL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=RAISING AMBITIONS FOR OFF-GRID COOLING APPLIANCES |date=1 April 2021 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-04/Offgrid-Cooling-Appliances-SEforALL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2021raising, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{RAISING AMBITIONS FOR OFF-GRID COOLING APPLIANCES}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-04/Offgrid-Cooling-Appliances-SEforALL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }