 Electricity is essential. And without it, human beings can't access important parts of society. Infrastructure and information technologies improve the education level of an area. Health services in clinics and hospitals rely on electricity. For example, to cool medicine, emergency treatment or nighttime care. Business activities in the manufacturing and service sectors are enabled or enhanced. Poverty reduction and the empowerment of women are also positively affected by access to electricity. Therefore, globally, the right to access electricity is getting more recognised. Nevertheless, worldwide, more than one billion people lived without electricity in 2016. That is about 14% of the world's population. The most affected are the rural areas of developing countries. In total, 84% of those without access to electricity are rural dwellers. In rural and remote locations in developing countries, the connection to the centralised grid is often hindered by complex terrain, high investment costs and low power demand. Moreover, centralised power plants often run on fossil fuels and are therefore highly unsustainable. In remote places, distributed renewable electricity systems can be the most convenient option and sometimes even the only option to generate and supply clean electricity to the local communities. There are four main ways to generate distributed renewable electricity. Small hydro power that respects the ecology of rivers. Small wind power. Solar photovoltaics. Small biomass systems using human and agricultural waste or wood gas technology or a combination of those, the so-called hybrid systems. Distributed renewable electricity systems can either work off-grid or can be connected to a mini-grid. Mini-grid systems are localised power networks that transmit electricity to the area of demand. They usually use a battery backup. For example, energy supply in a remote town is sometimes even connected to neighbouring towns. Off-grid or stand-alone systems are not connected to any grid. They power households or businesses where all electricity is consumed on-site or very close by. The implementation of distributed energy systems is often hindered by policy uncertainty in national strategies and regulations as well as a lack of financial resources. However, distributed renewable electricity systems can be implemented very quickly. Depending on the local situation, they can be more cost-effective than centralised systems. They come with the benefits of modularity, adaptability to specific local conditions and low environmental impact. Distributed renewable energy systems offer an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate access to electricity. Proper implementation of those systems can improve the livelihood of billions around the world.