In most parts of the world where local energy infrastructure is still incapable of supplying adequate energy to remote areas requiring energy intensive applications, companies have often relied on diesel genset microgrid systems to supply power. As diesel prices and the costs involved in importing them continue to rise while solar panels prices have continually fallen, it is now possible to integrate solar PV technology into current existing diesel microgrid systems to create a hybrid system which decreases the reliance on the genset while maintaining sufficient power for those same energy intensive applications without the need to replace the existing system entirely.

For example, the first off-grid PV diesel hybrid system in South Africa went operational in November 2012 and is theoratically capable of reducing up to 450,000 litres of diesel per year, significantly reducing operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously.