Renewable energies are considered as an essential element of any strategy for sustainable energy development. The poor in the developing world without access to modern energies are regarded as a major market for renewable energies. This short paper attempts to analyse whether such a niche is backed by any economic logic and whether renewable energy and the poor nexus could be a strategy for success. The paper Suggests that contrary to the common belief, the economic logic behind the niche is unsound and that the nexus is not a recipe for success. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.