Last month, we highlighted Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Technologies which is opening 300 energy retail stores across India. Enersol Associates, Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit is also working to make solar systems available and affordable.
Enersol works with the Asociacion para el Desarrollo de Energia Solar (ADESOL) in the Dominican Republic and Honduras to train interested local residents to be solar technicians. The technicians form independent small businesses, which purchase PV equipment, often on credit, then design and sell PV systems suited to the needs and financial capacity of their customers. About 10,000 households enjoy solar energy as a result.
Since only a small minority of households can afford to purchase a system, Richard Hansen, founder of Enersol, established SOLUZ Inc. which leases PV systems rather than sells them. SOLUZ uses private capital to own and maintain the PV systems and customers pay only a monthly service fee for electricity ($5-20).
The Greenstar business model, just getting underway, uses another innovative approach. The Greenstar Corporation’s first investment is in a small rural Palestinian village in the West Bank. A typical $100,000 investment supplies 4kW of solar power for electricity and water purification, a health clinic, wireless communication and computers connected to the Internet, and an ecommerce website with marketing and distribution systems to market local products. A micro-credit program will lend $10-15,000 to qualified individuals to economically produce the products sold on the village website, as well as to develop local markets. Over the next five years Greenstar plans to make investments in about 300 such Village Centers worldwide.
Enersol: http://www.enersol.org
Greenstar: http://www.greenstar.org
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