SoLAR Issue Brief Series – No. 2
Author: aariz
Transitioning to a volumetric tariff system to make solar irrigation pumps financially viable
MinErgy uses SoLAR Innovation Fund to build community distribution tanks as a step towards a volumetric tariff system and equitable water distribution for community-governed solar irrigation projects. MinErgy’s distribution tank in Nawalparasi. Solar irrigation has been gaining popularity in Nepal thanks to the government’s subsidies for individually-owned solar irrigation…
Integrating SIP usage to customized agri-advisory services via a digital platform
Gham Power Nepal Private Limited’s agri-extension services, bundled under “Yield Improvement in a Box,” target to remove the bottlenecks for solar pump uptake by Nepalese farmers. Access to on-demand irrigation for smallholder farmers in Nepal is key to moving from subsistence farming to commercial farming to uplift the social and…
Grid-connection pilots for IDCOL’s Solar Irrigation program in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s farmers depend on irrigation powered by imported diesel. With the rising cost of fossil fuel, the diesel-powered irrigation system is becoming increasingly unaffordable. According to Bangladesh’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the country is committed to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 5% (un-conditionally) by 2030. Bangladesh lacks natural resources…
Facilitating SIP Subsidies through Innovative Finance Support Model
SwitchON Foundation, an SDC-IWMI SoLAR innovation fund grantee, is enabling farmers in East and West Midnapore, Nadia, and North 24 Pargana districts of West Bengal to avail of a state government subsidy for SIPs, by facilitating bank loans for them through the Ratnakar Bank Limited (RBL). …
IDCOL in Bangladesh: A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model for Decarbonizing Irrigation through Solar
Diesel-based groundwater irrigation has been crucial for Bangladesh’s Boro rice cultivation and subsequent food security. As of 2019, boro accounted for more than half of Bangladesh’s food grain production. However, Bangladesh imports much of its diesel. As a result, it spends roughly $3.2 billion annually on import bills, which puts…
Solar Irrigation for the “Last Mile”
Kalinga Renewable Energy Manufacturers Pvt. Limited (KARMA), a start-up from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, innovates in mobile solar irrigation pumps for small and fragmented landholdings in rural Bihar and Odisha. Due to poor irrigation infrastructure and a lack of reliable electricity grids in rural Bihar, farmers…
Tapping Surplus Energy from SIPs for post-farmgate use
Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI), a SoLAR IF Grantee based in Rachi, aims to transform the lives of tribal households in the tribal belt of Jharkhand. In the Sardakhel village, Rachi, the local tribal group Munda resides. The tribe is dependent on agriculture. But susceptible to poverty due to…
