Case Study of Decentralized Energy Project- Smoke-free Village

Case Study of Decentralized Energy Project- Smoke-free Village

Presenter: Deepak Gadhia, (Muni Seva Ashram, India)

Overview

While trying to promote solar cooking in India, it was found that villagers were not willing to spend money to buy solar cookers. Even offer of easy loan through micro-finance which could be repaid in small installments, failed. The villagers were using free firewood sourced from nearby forest for cooking and did not want to give this up though this meant daily walking long distances for collection of firewood and transporting it as head-loads. To circumvent this reluctance of villagers, solar cookers were introduced as a tool for income generation and not for daily cooking. “Pay from your Profit and not from your Pocket” concept found immediate acceptance. This paper shares the success story of this experiment in Indian villages.