SOLAR ENERGY STRATEGY FOR SRI LANKA:

THE SOLAR VILLAGE SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION

I M DHARMADASA

SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY

UNITED KINGDOM.

Summary:

Current Status of Solar Energy

Solar Energy Strategy For Sri Lanka

Solar Villages For Sustainable

Development & Reduction of Poverty

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PV SOLAR ENERGY STATUS

TODAY

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SOLAR ENERGY STRATEGY FOR

SRI LANKA

IN ORDER TO MOVE TOWARDS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,

SRI LANKA SHOULD DEVELOP A TECHNOLOGY-MIX USING AVAILABLE INDIGENOUS ENERGY SOURCES (SOLAR, WIND, BIO-MASS ETC.), AND

REDUCE THE USE OF IMPORTED FOSSIL FUELS.

SOLAR ENERGY IS AT THE TOP OF THIS LIST AND FOLLOWING FIVE AREAS ARE CRUCIAL.

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1. USE "SOLAR HOME SYSTEMS" FOR HOUSE-

HOLDS NOT CONNECTED TO THE NATIONAL GRID

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100% electrification using the National Grid (NG) is economically not viable.

Therefore, SH Systems should be used to help the poorest community

in the country.

2. ESTABLISH "SOLAR VILLAGES" IN SRI LANKA

TO DEVELOP EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY

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~80% of Sri Lankan population live in villages

Therefore "Empower" them to develop themselves via "Solar Villages"

The main subject of this presentation is "Solar Villages".

3. INTRODUCE "SOLAR ROOFS" EVERYWHERE

POSSIBLE TO FEED THE NATIONAL GRID

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Introduce Solar Roofs for middle income families and

connect to the NG via net metering

Pay for excess energy produced & fed to the grid, and

un-lock people's personal savings for this purpose

The recent announcement on Solar Roofs by the P&E

Ministry is moving in the right direction.

4. DEVELOP LARGE "SOLAR FARMS" OF 10, 50, 100

MW SIZE AND CONNECT TO THE NG

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Avoid covering fertile lands

Covering arid lands like Mannar Island will enable production of electricity,

and allow cultivation of the shaded land (eg: Gobi Desert Project)

5. BUILD CAPACITY THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND

ESTABLISH SOLAR PANEL MANUFACTURING IN SRI LANKA

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SOLAR POWER to VILLAGE POWER (Design Stage During a HE-Link Program in the 1990s)

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Solar Water Pumping System of The "Pilot Solar Village"

Opened in September 2008

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To empower rural communities by introducing clean

energy technologies, and guide them to escape from

poverty traps

To improve water & food security in deprived

communities, while up-lifting their living standards

To find solutions to climate change, improve

environment and reduce the burning of fossil fuel

To take new technologies from laboratory to the

society for sustainable development.

SOLAR VILLAGE: Aims & objectives

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SOLAR VILLAGE: Activities Taking Place

With the guidance from project

initiators, village community

involves in various projects such

as:

Tree planting

Organic farming

Bee keeping

Improvement of the Village

School, Temple, Nursery and the

Library

13 out of 17 SDGs are embedded

in this project.

SOLAR VILLAGE: Activities Taking Place

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SOLAR VILLAGE: Main Impacts

The village school ear-marked for closure in 2007, after applying Solar

Village ideas, has Electricity, Free running water, Few computers and the

student number increased from ~20 to 85

The same school now ranking 4th out of 255 primary schools in the region,

with added new building

The environment of the school has improved tremendously, and teachers do

not want to leave the school

Village Temple shows rapid development and all house-holds show rapid

economic development.

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SOLAR VILLAGES: Replication Plans

Several Solar Villages

will be established

with funding from

Charitable Organisations.

APSL-UK 2 or 3 Villages

Helasarana 2 Villages

Personal funds 1 Village

We hope, when the Professionals Design, Pilot, Monitor and Start Replication

of successful projects like these, the Local Governments will notice and widely

establish these types of projects for sustainable development. Interested Groups

are working to start similar projects in Malaysia & Nigeria at present.

Harvesting the Sun

To

Save the Planet,

Help the Poor and

Secure our Future

Thank You

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