ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT: Since independence, the Indian government has been trying to electrify all rural areas-a daunting task. Bihar, with less than 50% of households electrified, has ambitious plans for increased solar power use. This study compared the environmental and economic benefits of centralized and decentralized solar power options to electrify Bihar’s rural households. A centralized scenario with utility-scale, photovoltaic plants was compared with decentralized residential rooftop photovoltaic systems. A comparative environmental and cost life cycle assessment was conducted with a functional unit of 1  kWh electricity to a rural household in Bihar. The centralized scenario had lower environmental impacts and costs. However, Bihar’s electricity consumption is mainly residential, which could lead to unutilized electricity. Considering this made the centralized scenario the worse option. This study tried to understand the effect of electricity consumption profiles on a system’s environmental impacts and costs and the role it plays in policy decisions regarding generation capacity increases.