Experts argue that renewable energy technologies such as micro and mini hydropower, solar, wind, and biomass are not only financially viable solutions but also suitable energy source alternatives for rural and remote areas in developing countries like Nepal. In remote areas of Nepal, 33% of households do not have electricity access. Subsequently, numerous barriers arise while developing renewable energy technologies. This study attempts to identify the barriers to developing renewable energy from the Nepalese perspective and to rank them. Twenty-two barriers were identified from previous studies, project reports, and policy documents, as well as through site visits and interactions with stakeholders. These were categorized into six types of barriers: social, policy and political, technical, economic, administrative, and geographic. We used the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) methodology for estimating and ranking the barriers. The results show that the two most important barrier categories are economic and policy and political. In addition, political instability and transportation problems are ranked first and second in overall barriers. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.