Since the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2011, renewable off-grid energy systems have attracted increasing attention as means to break the vicious circle of poverty and improving living conditions in rural areas of developing countries. The extensive diffusion of decentralised renewable energy technologies, while harvesting international positive reactions, is scarcely understood in the context of livelihood strategies and micro-level analysis of remote villages located in protected areas of the Amazon forest. The scope of this paper is to explore the impacts of energy use in two decentralised systems, from renewable and non-renewable sources, on livelihood diversification in the Brazilian Amazon. Empirical research gathering qualitative and quantitative data was conducted in two isolated sites in the state of Amazonas. To understand the multidimensional factors influencing poverty reduction and income generation in relation to renewable and non-renewable energy use on livelihoods, this study used the Sustainable Livelihood Framework as conceptual framework. The main findings of this research show that while energy from solar PV mini-grid encourages the productivity of existing home-based off-farm income, the system does not meet future demand for either new income generating activities, demographic growth or migration. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.