In a remote village in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Madhu Kumar sits outside a small thatched house, talking to a group of other women. At first sight, it’s the most traditional of scenes. Sari-clad villagers pass the time while their children play cricket with makeshift bats and balls on the dusty ground. A cow wanders slowly between the houses.

But come closer, and you’ll see something at once familiar and, in this context, revolutionary. Kumar is making notes on an iPad. It’s been charged from a solar panel on her roof, and she’s using it to jot down orders for solar lights. She is a ‘solar saheli’ (solar friend) – a sales agent for Frontier Markets, a local business set up by entrepreneur Ajaita Shah, that sells a range of such technology across the state.

Access to computers and the internet is offering women, like those in Pakistan’s Chitral district, ‘a window to the world’

Clean, bright solar lights are life-changing for villagers who, until now, had to make do with the smoky, dim glow of kerosene lanterns. But it’s not just about light to see by. Kumar is part of a revolution that is sweeping quietly across much of rural Asia and Africa. It is one that harnesses locally sourced renewable energy – like solar or small-scale hydro – to bring digital connectivity into people’s homes. And it is women, often confined to their communities by conservative cultural norms, who benefit the most.

Kumar is pioneering a new role as an ‘internet saheli’. “I help show women how they can use the internet to look up remedies for a sick child,” she tells me, “or buy bus tickets, or start up a new business on their own, like dressmaking.”

I help show women how they can use the internet to look up remedies for a sick child or start up a new business on their own

In Pakistan’s Chitral district, high in the Hindu Kush mountains near the Afghan border, small hydro plants run by local NGO the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), provide power for a whole range of purposes, including phone lines and computers in community centres. Women are learning IT skills and starting tailoring businesses, and enjoying the simple pleasure of having a window to the world. “We know about national and international affairs now,” said one. “Before, we knew nothing.”

Accessing the web doesn’t just ease a sense of isolation; it also helps give remote villagers the prospect of a viable future. Without this, many see no alternative but to migrate to distant city slums in search of a living.

As one Chitrali puts it: “People leave because they want a better quality of life. But with electricity, that life can come to us. Our valley is beautiful. We don’t want to leave. Electricity helps us stay.”

Madhu Kumar is a ‘solar saheli’ (solar friend) and sales agent for a local tech retailer

Frontier Markets and SRSP are winners of an Ashden Award for sustainable energy, which recognises schemes that tackle climate change while also lifting people out of poverty. Martin Wright is part of the Ashden Awards visiting judging team.

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Images: Martin Wright

The post Solar sisters: how green energy is empowering women in remote communities appeared first on Positive News.

Every month 36MW of solar energy capacity is being added to Denmark’s grid, meaning the country’s total solar energy capacity will reach 200MW by the end of the year – a capacity 100 times larger than the same period in 2010.

Danish companies DONG Energy, Dansk Energi and Energinet have estimated solar energy capacity could reach 1,000MW by 2020 and 3,400MW by 2030 if similar growth rates continue.

Denmark has a strong commitment to renewable technology in general and earlier this year the government set a target to meet all of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2050. Currently 22% of the nation’s energy comes from renewables.

Kim Schultz, Project Manager at Invest in Denmark said: “The demand for solar cells has increased dramatically since net metering was implemented in 2010. Net metering gives private households and public institutions the possibility of ‘storing’ surplus production in the public grid, which makes solar panels considerably more attractive.”

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There has been a 66% growth in solar electric capacity so far this year, with almost 3,000 megawatts installed across the US, enough to power 600,000 homes. The industry hopes to install 10 gigawatts by 2015, enough to power 2 million homes.

Statistics produced by the Solar Foundation’s National Solar Job Consensus showed that the industry is creating more jobs per megawatt than other energy source, with 93,000 Americans employed in the industry in 2010.

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Britain’s first solar power station owned by local people is now being established, following the success of a community investment scheme.

Having received planning permission, an array of 544 photovoltaic (PV) panels is being constructed on the roof of Harvey’s brewery in Lewes. Set to go live by the end of July, it is the first of its kind in the country according to the group behind it.

Ouse Valley Energy Services Company Limited (Ovesco), an offshoot of Transition Lewes, launched the scheme on Tuesday 19 April at Lewes Town Hall, offering a share issue for the capital cost of £307,000.

The installation will generate 92,000 kilowatt hours of green electricity each year – enough to save more than 40 tonnes of CO2 annually. Assembled in Wales by Sharp and guaranteed for 25 years, the panels could go on producing electricity for many more years.

Investing in the scheme provides a combination of community and personal benefit. Interest will be generated via the new solar PV feed-in tariffs for electricity exported to the grid, which are guaranteed by the government for 25 years. While earning a 4% return, shareholders will be playing their part in making carbon reduction happen and investing in the future of their children. Ovesco also plans to use income to finance local community activities, such as energy advice and events. Harveys will use some of the electricity free of charge for its operations.

Over 200 local people have invested amounts between £250 and a few thousand pounds and money invested will be repaid in full to shareholders at the end of the 25-year scheme.

The share launch evening began with £170k already pledged. Potential investors were treated to a specially brewed Harvey’s Solar Ale, and nibbles from Bills, a local restaurant.

Speaking at the launch, Norman Baker, MP for Lewes and transport minister, said: “Energy should be bottom up, not top down”. He also emphasised the importance of retro-fitting homes for energy efficiency, which would reduce the need for electricity generation.

Stating the need for renewables, Baker said: “With issues of energy security, peak oil, and gas coming from unstable regimes, even those who aren’t green can see the point in developing renewables in the short term.” He dismissed nuclear power as “unable to be developed without substantial subsidy.”

Referring to the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, Huw Irranca-Davies, MP for Gower and shadow energy minister, agreed. “Fukushima has helped us take a proper view of the total cost of nuclear,” he said, but added that one incident should not determine policy and in his view, coal is the most environmentally dangerous energy source.

The shadow minister pointed out that the UK has the best opportunity in the world to develop wind, wave and tidal power, but the financial mechanisms to take advantage of these natural resources are not there. “What we see here tonight is a model to go round the country,” he said.

Also speaking at the launch, Sara Parkin OBE, founder director of Forum for the Future, said that we needed to move away from nuclear, coal and large-scale wind. “The battle is between big and small energy,” she said. To reduce the transmission waste, “we need to get the generation sources near to where we are – and the answer to that is small scale renewables,” she added.

Once the solar plant is operational, Ovesco will be looking for more ways to generate local energy and it is also developing a guide to help other groups fund similar projects through community share schemes.

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The study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes the world’s leading climate scientists, is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the trends and potential of renewable energy. It has been produced to assess how renewables can mitigate climate change and to serve as a knowledge basis for policymakers.

Launched on 9 May, The Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) was approved by government representatives from 194 nations.

Policies reflecting the wider economic, social and environmental benefits of renewable technologies, including their potential to cut air pollution and improve public health, will be key to making use of the full potential of renewables, the report concludes.

Youba Sokona, co-chair of one of the report’s working groups, said: “The potential role of renewable energy technologies in meeting the needs of the poor and in powering the sustainable growth of developing and developed economies can trigger sharply polarised views. This IPCC report has brought some much needed clarity to this debate in order to inform governments on the options and decisions that will be needed if the world is to collectively realise a low-carbon, far more resource efficient and equitable development path”.

Ramon Pichs, also a co-chair, added: “The report shows that it is not the availability of the resource, but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy development over the coming decades.”

The study reviewed the current role and future potential of six renewable energy technologies. For most, costs have declined and the authors expect significant technical advancements and further cost reductions in the future. The study also shows that combining different renewable sources will improve reliability of energy supply.

When measured in 2008, 13% percent of global energy supply came from renewables. By 2050, solar energy could become one of the major sources, the report identifies, while global wind power’s share could grow from 2% in 2009 to more than 20%.

Hydropower, currently the largest renewable source for electricity, is likely to grow in absolute terms but decrease its overall share in global electricity supply from 16% in 2008 to 10-14% in 2050. Geothermal could meet 5% of heat demand, with bioenergy forecast not to have a significant share in the renewables mix. Tidal and wave power are unlikely to noticeably contribute to global energy supply before 2020 due to its early stage of development.

The investment required to fully deploy renewable technologies and limit the effects of climate change would only cost around 1% of global GDP, said IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri.

“The IPCC and governments of the world signal loud and clear: fossil fuels and nuclear are no real alternatives to renewables,” said Dr Stephan Singer, director for global energy policy for WWF International. The organisation claimed however that the IPCC underestimates how quickly renewables could be deployed, especially when combined with top level energy efficiency. WWF’s own analysis, The Energy Report, shows a pathway to a 100% renewable energy future by 2050.

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