Solar businesses embrace less-developed regions

The photovoltaic industry is finding new opportunities in rural Asia, a sunny region and home to some 800 million
people who lack access to electricity.

As about 90 % of Asian people who have need of electricity live in scattered small villages, it makes extending power lines more expensive than off-grid energy solutions. And compared with other off-grid solutions like wind, hydro or biomass, solar PV solutions have an edge in requiring low maintenance and not relying on special conditions like having a river. The technology is also better positioned than diesel generators, a common energy solution in rural Asia. That is because solar solutions do not require transportation of fuels on a regular basis and are unaffected by fuel price increases. It is also easier for villagers to maintain solar solutions than diesel generators.

Selling solar solutions customer by customer

Currently, one major business activity in rural developing Asia is to provide solar solutions to households and small businesses. Interviews with local solar companies demonstrate that small solar home systems, especially in the range of 20 to 200 W capacity, as well as solar lanterns, are in high demand. Solar lanterns are attractive because they can replace smoky, unsafe candles or kerosene lamps to give light after dark. Those solar lanterns have a small fluorescent or LED light with a rechargeable battery. Some lanterns have a small built-in PV module, and others are designed to be plugged into a PV module for charging.

Others have also found their own ways to reach rural markets and develop a local workforce. For instance, the US solar lantern maker Greenlight Planet has a working pilot programme in 30 districts in Bihar and Karnataka, two states of India. There, its 35 rural sales leaders recruit, train and support a network of over 200 village direct sellers, who are already selling 2,500 of their solar lanterns each month. Amid challenges, solar businesses are looking forward to a brighter future in rural developing Asia. In the case of Greenlight Planet, the company is now trying to raise funds and expand its sales network from two states to five states in India, targeting a 10-fold increase in operations.

http://www.sunlabob.com/documents/1102-SWE_Photovoltaics_Rural%20Asia.pdf