Does involvement of local community ensure sustained energy access? A critical review of a solar PV technology intervention in rural India

• Published in: World development 2019-10, Vol.122, p.272-281
• Main Authors: Joshi, Lalita, Choudhary, Deepak, Kumar, Praveen, Venkateswaran, Jayendran, Solanki, Chetan S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Adoption of innovations; Capacity building approach; Clean energy; Community; Community involvement; Community participation; Community planning; Consumer attitudes; Consumers; Data; Data analysis; Data collection; Electricity; Energy; Energy development; Energy policy; Energy security; Energy utilization; Entrepreneurship; Federations; Households; India; Intervention; Lamps; Lighting; Livelihood; Local communities; Low income areas; Mothers; Off-grid solar; Participation; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Qualitative analysis; Renewable energy; Rural areas; Rural communities; Rural poverty; Rural schools; Sales; Security; Solar cells; Solar energy eco-system; Solar lamps; Solar power; Southern Hemisphere; Supply; Supply chains; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Sustained use; Technology; Uptake; Women
• ISSN: 0305-750X; 1873-5991
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.028

•Women’s self-help groups can effectively promote energy access to local households.•Local services enabled continued functioning of lamps, increasing consumer confidence.•Solar lamps used for multiple activities; households prefer solar for basic lighting.•Capacity building and handholding of SHGs required for speed, quality and coverage.•Livelihood opportunities are primary drivers for SHG network participation. The solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies offer a sustainable solution to energy-poor communities. Adoption and sustained use of solar PV merit participation of local communities in planning and implementation. The literature on off-grid solar PV interventions that do not take the approach of involving communities point towards the difficulties experienced in reaching the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) communities as wells as in supply chain and after-sales service. Similarly, there is a gap in scientific literature that explores community inclusive initiatives to foster sustained uptake of solar PV technologies. Our study fills this gap, and discusses: 1) pathways to engage with rural poor communities to promote solar off-grid access, and 2) the impact of engaging with these communities particularly women, on their energy security and livelihood opportunities. We study a two-phased intervention in rural poor setting in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan state in India. The intervention can be broadly classified into two phases: (i) the distribution of solar study lamps to rural school students and mothers, wherein the lamps were assembled and maintained by the local community (self-help group networks), (ii) the entrepreneurship development of local community members towards continued livelihood through solar. We adopted mixed methods approach to collect and analyze the quantitative data from beneficiary households, while qualitative data were collected from SHG members. Our findings demonstrate the utility of localized intervention and the significance and challenges of engaging local communities. The consumers used these solar lamps for multiple activities and prefer solar over grid electricity for basic lighting. The voltage fluctuations or poor quality of electricity supply influences the preference to solar over the conventional grid. Local services enabled continued functioning of lamps, thereby increasing consumer confidence. The intervention built capacity of and created continued livelihood opportunities for local women in these communities, r