When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of millions of people without access to electricity turn to candles or kerosene lamps for illumination.
Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stemmed economic development, held down literacy rates and damaged health.
“Earlier, they could not do much once the sun set. Now, the sun is used differently. They have increased their productivity, improved their health and socio-economic status,” said Pinal Shah from SEWA Bank, a micro-lending institution.
Vegetable seller Ramiben Waghri took out a loan to buy a solar lantern which she uses to light up her stall at night. The lantern costs between $66-$112, about a week’s income for Waghri. “The vegetables look better by this light, and it’s cheaper than kerosene and doesn’t smell,” said Waghri, who estimates she makes about 300 rupees ($6) more each evening with her lantern. “If we can use the sun to save some money, why not?”
In India, solar power projects, often funded by micro credit institutions, are helping the country reduce carbon emissions and achieve its goal to double the contribution of renewable energy to 6%, or 25,000 megawatts, within the next four years.
Off-grid applications such as solar cookers and lanterns, which can provide several hours of light at night after being charged by the sun during the day, will help cut dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the fourth biggest emitter’s carbon footprint, said Pradeep Dadhich, a senior fellow at energy research institute TERI in India“ They are reaching people who otherwise have limited or no access to electricity and depend on kerosene, diesel or firewood for their energy need,” he said. “The appliances not only satisfy these needs, they also improve the quality of life and reduce the carbon emissions.”
SEWA, or the Self-Employed Women’s Association, is among a growing number of microfinance institutions in India focused on providing affordable renewable energy sources to poor people, who otherwise would have had to stand for hours to buy kerosene for lamps or trudge kilometers to collect firewood for cooking.
SKS, Microfinance, the largest such institution in India, offers solar lamps to its 5 million customers, while the Rural Solar Electricity Foundation helps pay for lamps and systems for homes and street lighting for villagers in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In neighboring Bangladesh, the state-owned and private-sector power plants can generate 3,700 to 4,300 megawatts of electricity a day against a demand of 5,500 megawatts, according to the state-run power development board. With only 40 percent of the country’s people having access to electricity, microfinance institutions like Grameen Bank have made a major push toward expanding the use of solar power. Since 2001, 350,000 solar home systems have been installed in Bangladesh and 550,000 solar lanterns have been distributed, bringing solar power to about 4 million people.
“Right now 2.5million people are benefiting from solar energy, and we have a plan to reach 10 million people by the end of 2012,” said Dipal Chandra Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, an offshoot of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Grameen Bank, which encourages the use of alternative energy.
