Around 20% of world population lives without electricity access, most of them are concentrated in Sub-Saharan rural areas. Traditional approaches to electrify rural areas imply capital intensive infrastructures and large investments, while DC microgrids, based on renewable sources and storage systems, can be easily implementable and lead to cost effective solutions. The use of super efficient appliances can dramatically reduce the households electricity consumption, leading to smaller and cheaper systems. In this study an analysis of the use of efficient DC appliances is performed starting by essential energy services. Solar home system design optimization can be achieved by the evaluation of irradiation variation and the load requirements, finding the most cost-effective solution. Rural electrification can have a major impact to drastically improve the quality of life of millions of people through the sustainable use of solar energy. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.