Over 1 billion people globally lack access to electricity and another billion lack access to reliable
energy. 87% of those without electricity access live in rural areas. Providing access to energy
results in a variety of benefits across the education, health, social, and economic sectors. It
enables student to study at night, improving grades and graduation rates. Access also
facilitates irrigation, increasing production and food security. Energy access also can increase
household income over 50%, spurring economic growth and opportunities, as well as the
creation of new markets.
Advances in clean energy technology not only better enable those without electricity to gain
access but also enable them to leapfrog traditional methods of power generation and
distribution. A number of new start-up companies have developed successful business models
to bring clean energy to off-grid populations. However, these efforts alone are not enough to
meet the drastically rising demand for electricity across the developing world, its increasing
importance to economic prosperity, and the urgent imperative to meet the objectives of the Paris
Agreement which includes significantly reducing global carbon emissions.
Increases in technological innovation are needed across the sector, ranging from battery
storage and energy efficient appliances to expanding business models beyond solar home
systems to mini-grids and community-wide solutions. Additionally, we must find ways to
empower and enable the growth of energy entrepreneurs across the globe, eliminate barriers for
entry of new enterprises, and scale solutions that are working.
The Accelerating Access to Clean Energy Around the World workshop will convene key
stakeholders from across Silicon Valley — including tech companies, investors, foundations,
NGOs, government, and academia — to develop new technological approaches to tackling this
challenge. Building on earlier events, this workshop will move beyond identifying the barriers to
accelerating access by generating ambitious and impactful proposals to overcome barriers to
entry and scale. We will bring together not just experts in renewable energy but also those on
the cutting-edge of intersecting technology trends, such as expanding internet access, mobile
payments and platforms, cloud storage, and data analytics. The workshop also aims to identify
champions to develop solutions to advance these new ideas and specific mechanisms.
The workshop will be interactive and focus on roll-up-your-sleeves problem-solving. Long-time
energy specialists will work side-by-side with innovators from other sectors who can bring new
perspectives to the challenge. Every attendee will be a participant.
This event is part of the State Department’s recently-launched Innovation Forum and Silicon
Valley presence, with a mission to build bridges between policymakers and innovators to tackle
the most pressing global challenges.