Starter Kit. Idea 425 of 500. Cluster 21
Mini-grids for the islands off Jaffna and the villages the grid has not reached
The mechanism, from the book
The sun shines on every roof and the island imports its fuel.
The first step
Travel to one of the islands off Jaffna, or to a village the grid has not reached, 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 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 villages off the grid are imported and dear; a mini-grid replaces them with sunlight and keeps the fees in the village.
Ask first
- Ceylon Electricity Board. Ask whether a mini-grid may run where the grid has not reached.
- Sustainable Energy Authority. Ask whether any support exists for solar mini-grids in villages.
Check before you spend
Whether a private mini-grid may sell power, what happens if the grid arrives later, and land for the panels from its owner.
Find out these three numbers
- What do households spend monthly on kerosene and fuel?
- How many households will sign to connect?
- What does a solar mini-grid for the village cost?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.