Idea 425 of 500. Cluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
Mini-grids and solar storage for the islands off Jaffna, which are not on the national grid
The mechanism, from the book
The sun shines on every roof and the island imports its fuel.
Every idea in cluster 21 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Travel to one of the islands off Jaffna and ask the shopkeepers, the fishing families and the school what they spend each month on kerosene, batteries and generator fuel. Add it up and propose a solar mini-grid with a monthly fee below that total. The proof is a signed list of households and one shop that agree to connect and pay.
- Who pays first
- A shop or fishing family on the islands already paying for generator fuel, who would pay a fixed monthly fee for power that arrives every evening.
- What leaves today
- Kerosene and diesel for islands off the grid are imported and dear; a mini-grid replaces them with sunlight and keeps the fees on the island.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. FourteenThe List
Energy: first, stop importing it
More from cluster 21
- 411Rooftop solar leasing for households, paid from the electricity bill
- 412Solar-powered cold rooms for the fishing harbours and the farms
- 413Biogas plants for the dairy and pig farms, with the gas sold locally
- 414Rainwater-harvesting installation for the dry-zone villages and the hotels
- 415Waste-collection and recycling businesses in the tourist towns, paid by the businesses they serve
- 416Composting of hotel and market waste into a branded soil product
Idea 425 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.