Together, Let us make the sun brighter

International Solar Alliance

Select Global Cases

Supported by

From the Interim Director General, ISA

The global demand for energy is bound to increase with the fast development taking place. Renewable Energy is fast becoming the base load energy and claiming a major proportion in overall energy mix. The demand for clean energy is expected to grow with people choosing green energy over conventional fossil fuel based energy sources. Dependence on solar energy increases mainly on the back of its affordability and scalability in comparison to other forms of energy. In this context, the H. E. Upendra International Solar Alliance (ISA) was formed by Honourable Tripathy Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi along with Honorable President of France, François Hollande on 30th November,2015 as a treaty based international intergovernmental organization. ISA stands for co-operation among 121 solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropics in order to promote massive deployment of solar energy and make solar energy affordable.

The year 2017 has been a bright spot for the solar energy sector, with solar energy tariffs falling to record low and record global deployment of solar with total installed capacity of solar of 303 GW. ISA has also the pleasure of welcoming six new member countries on board, at an ISA event held on the sidelines of the 52nd African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meeting.

To achieve the target of mobilising over $ 1000 Billion of investment into solar by 2030, ISA will strive to channelize long term funds from global sources like multilateral funding agencies, pension funds and insurance funds to help develop the solar sector further. ISA’s efforts are expected to bring down the cost of finance, and make solar a buyers’ market.

The global case study compendium is an excellent publication promoting solar best practices across ISA member countries. I am hopeful that it will bring insight to ISA member countries and other stakeholders in the solar community and help realise ISA its objectives in a meaningful and time bound manner. From the Founder & CEO, YES BANK

International Solar Alliance (ISA), right since its inception in 2015, has emerged as an unprecedented platform, fostering global cooperation for addressing the burgeoning energy demands by tapping solar energy. Actualizing the 'power of the collective', the coalition has grown from strength to strength, with 52 nations signing the ISA agreement and 26 ratifying till date. The recent registration with the United Nations, strategic partnerships forged with multilateral organizations like United Nations Development Programme and collective support from the financial community, is a testimony to the Rana Kapoor fact that the world looks up to this supranational entity to expedite green energy revolution. Given the momentum and support garnered by ISA, it intends to mobilize USD 1 trillion investment in solar energy space by 2030, which requires a multi-actor support from harbingers of this ongoing climate movement. With ISA being the first treaty based international inter- governmental organization headquartered in India and ambitious target of 100 GW of solar energy, Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's relentless commitment to the cause will truly actualize “India's time under the Sun”. In its constant endeavor to support and catalyze the mobilization of finance towards meeting the objectives outlined by ISA, YES BANK, has signed a letter of intent to mobilize USD 1 billion by 2023 and USD 5 billion by 2030 towards financing solar energy projects in India. With one of the largest renewable energy portfolio in the country, the Bank has facilitated financing towards generation of 1,158 MW in FY 2016-17, out of which solar projects constituted a significant 86%. I would like to thank the ISA Secretariat for partnering, yet again, with YES BANK on developing this compendium titled 'Together Making the Sun brighter: Select Global Cases' which shares insights on 24 impactful and replicable case studies from 20 countries. I am confident that this compendium would not only serve as a repository of insightful cases but also stimulate all the stakeholders in the ecosystem to collectively contribute towards the envisioned goal. This compendium would facilitate policy makers, financial institutions, civil society, ecopreneurs and corporate sector to propel ISA's transformational agenda of steering the global economy onto a sustainable and inclusive growth path. Sincerely,

Rana Kapoor Founder & CEO Chairman CONTENTS

About International Solar Alliance ...... 4 Background ...... 4 Growing Leaps and Bound ...... 4 Programmes for Transformation ...... 5 About the Report ...... 6 Africa...... 6 Case Study 1. Zenzeleni Networks: Solar powered sustainable "Do it Yourself" telco model for rural community, South Africa ...... 8 Case Study 2. Renewable Energy Solutions for Lake Victoria Ecosystems (RESOLVE) ..10 Case Study 3. Scaling Solar Rooftop, Rwanda ...... 12 Case Study 4. Solar Bakery, Tanzania ...... 14 Case Study 5. First Securitization deal for Off-grid solutions, Kenya ...... 16 Case Study 6. Innovative solar tunnels for food processing, Mozambique ...... 18 Asia...... 20 Case Study 7. Solar power as an alternative income source to minimise climate risk to agriculture – Gujarat, India ...... 20 Case Study 8. World's first fully solar powered airport: Cochin Airport, Kerala, India . 22 Case Study 9. Blended finance approach for private solar energy projects – Climate Investor One ...... 24 Case Study 10. Solar Farming – Simultaneous production of food and energy from same land, Japan ...... 26 Case Study 11. Rural Electrification through RE Minigrids, Indonesia ...... 28 Europe...... 29 Case Study 12. Solar power to stave off the water crisis, Spain ...... 29 Case Study 13. Feldheim: first energy self-sufficient village, Germany ...... 30 Case Study 14. Promoting Solar Rooftops, United Kingdom ...... 31 Case Study 15. Refinancing of Solar Portfolio, France ...... 32 North & South America ...... 34 Case Study 16. Deer lake First Nation Elementary School, Canada...... 34 Case Study 17. SolarCity solar rooftop program for home owners, USA ...... 36 Case Study 18. Mexican solar power offers cheap electricity, Mexico ...... 38 Case Study 19. Solar powered vertical farming, USA ...... 39 Oceania & Australia ...... 41 Case Study 20. Solar refrigeration system for improving livelihoods, Fiji ...... 41 Case Study 21. Providing 24 hour power supply to remote islands, Tuvalu ...... 42 Case Study 22. Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia ...... 44 Case Study 23. Off – Grid charging points, Papua New Guinea (PNG) ...... 45 Case Study 24. Solar Powered Mega Center, Tarewa, New Zealand ...... 47 Reference ...... 48 About International Solar Alliance

Background The year 2017 witnessed growing footprint of climate change, in form of extreme weather events across the globe, resulting in USD 330 billion of economic losses. Floods in South Asia were one of the greatest humanitarian disaster affecting 40 million people in the region. While the winter of 2017-18 led to steep rise in temperature across the Arctic, Europe and North America are witnessing stronger and longer winters. These extreme weather events have made Climate change one of the biggest challenges faced by the world today, which requires collaborative effort by all nations to decouple energy production and economic growth from green house gas emissions. International Solar Alliance (ISA), launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India and Hon'ble President of France at the historic COP21 in Paris has emerged as a major global force to support low carbon development through partnerships.

Growing Leaps and Bound

International Solar Alliance became a treaty based international inter- governmental alliance of 121 solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn on 6th December 2017. In the last two years since the launch, ISA has grown in strength with 52 nations signing the ISA agreement and 26 ratifying till date. ISA has also garnered extensive support from various multilateral organizations like United Nation Development Programme, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). ISA has actively engaged with the member nations and conducted more than 10 monthly meetings and 6 steering committee meetings and has aggressively pushed the first two programmes on affordable financing and agriculture use. With financing commitments from various agencies, ISA is geared up with 17 member countries participating in the financing work program which has been able to commission studies for developing 'Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism' for reducing hedging costs and need assessment of ISA countries. With 13

4 countries participating in the solar for agriculture programme, ISA is planning for a global tender of 500,000 solar pumps based on the needs assessment studies done in the participating countries.

Programmes for Transformation

With the objective to address common challenges for mainstreaming solar energy in the member countries, the ISA has taken a programmatic approach towards achieving scale. It has created four common programmes which address different needs of the member countries. The programmes provide a framework for collaboration among the member countries on the following objectives: Ÿ Scaling Solar Applications for Agriculture Use: Agriculture is the mainstay of many ISA member countries which often lack access to modern energy sources for irrigation, food production, storage and processing. The programme intends to scale solar applications in agricultural and rural use through identification of common technologies and procedures. It would aggregate the technology needs across the member nations to maximize economies of scale, create collaboration among research centers focused on solutions, which can be deployed across the member nations Ÿ Affordable Finance at Scale: Availability of affordable finance has been identified as one of the major roadblocks by the member countries. The program proposes to mobilize USD 1,000 billion for solar energy among the member countries. The program intends to identify opportunities for large scale project portfolios and develop standardization to reduce cost. Under this programme, ISA is also engaging with Development Finance Institutions and other investors to channelize finance for solar in member Countries Ÿ Scaling Solar Mini-Grids: Access to electricity is a critical factor in generating livelihoods and improving standards of living for the population. ISA countries may leverage the opportunity of solar power to create power locally for logistically remote locations like the island nations. Through the program, ISA intends to evolve an ecosystem of key stakeholders including the corporate sector to support mini-grids in the member nations to provide access to electricity. It would also facilitate the development of mini/micro-grid policies in the member nations to enhance greater participation from the corporate sector

5 Ÿ Scaling Solar Roof-Tops: Solar rooftops present one of the highest potential for solar energy allowing stakeholders to generate electricity and reducing dependence on centralized power systems. The program would promote penetration of rooftops among the member countries through policy support and encouragement of business cases While the above programmes build on the initial momentum gained by the participating member countries into concrete actionables and achieving on ground impact of solar energy, knowledge sharing among the member nations on technologies and processes would hold the key to success of these programmmes. Dissemination of learning on the four programmes would promote inter-country exchange and encourage the member nations to step forward and replicate the best practices. ISA and YES BANK have come together to present "Together Making the Sun Brighter: Select Global Cases", a report which brings together success stories from across the globe.

About the Report

This booklet is a collation of global case studies highlighting the challenges faced, breakthrough solutions, project outcomes and the learning from the projects. Each case attempts to bring out the distinguishing feature of the project, which has the potential of being replicable, impactful and scalable across the geographies with comparable conditions. The report has been prepared through secondary research on unique cases from across all the continents of the world specially targeting the four primary programs on Agriculture & Rural use, Affordable Finance, Solar Mini-Grids and Rooftops. It is indeed a step in the right direction and will go a long way in guiding the member countries to embrace the solutions in line with the different programmes of ISA. It would help replicate some of the best practices adopted globally, while taking into consideration their individual constraints.

6 Scaling solar Scaling Solar Scaling Solar Scaling up applications for Mini-grids Roof-top affordable financing agricultural use for solar

Africa Solar Bakery Renewable Energy Zenzeleni First Securitization (Tanzania) Solutions for Lake Networks: Solar deal for Off-grid Victoria powered telco solutions (Kenya) Innovative solar Ecosystems model for rural tunnels for food (Kenya) community (South processing Africa) (Mozambique ) Scaling Solar Rooftop (Rwanda) Asia Solar power as an Rural World’s first fully Blended finance alternative income Electrification solar powered approach for private source to minimise through RE airport: Cochin solar energy projects climate risk to Minigrids Airport (India) – Climate Investor agriculture (India) (Indonesia) One (Asia, Africa) Solar Farming – Simultaneous production of food and energy from same land (Japan) Europe Solar power to stave Feldheim: 1st Promoting Solar Refinancing of Solar off the water crisis energy self- Rooftops (United Portfolio ( France) (Spain) sufficient village Kingdom) (Germany) North & Solar powered Deer Lake First SolarCity to open Affordable Solar South vertical farming Nation Elementary up solar rooftop power (Mexico) America (USA) School (Canada) for home owners (USA)

Oceania & Solar refrigeration Providing 24 hour Solar Powered Clean Energy Finance Australia system fo r power supply to Mega Center , Corporation improving remote islands Tarewa (New (Australia) livelihoods (Fiji) (Tuvalu) Zealand) Off – Grid charging points (Papua New Guinea)

7 Case Study 1. Zenzeleni Networks: Solar powered sustainable "Do it Yourself" telco model for rural community, South Africa

Background Mankosi is a remote rural community within the Nyandeni Local Municipality in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. The distance between Mankosi and its nearest city Mthala is around 60 km. Mankosi, with a population of 6,000, forms one of the most economically disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Most residents earn less that USD 2 per day and most homes are still not connected to the electricity grid in the area. Like many other rural areas, there was no internet infrastructure until very recently. For this rural community, communication is accessible yet not affordable, with locals spending up to 22% of their income on tele-communications. This includes data and airtime costs along with payments to local shops or 'shebeens' for charging phones, in the absence of electricity connections. The additional cost for charging exerts enormous burden on the residents, who could better utilize the same amount for food, education, transport and other needs, thus, rendering communication services unsustainable for the community. Intervention

In 2012, the University of the Western Cape initiated work with Mankosi residents and also provided initial funding to develop a solar powered telecommunication community network. They have created a model for the sustainable implementation of bottom-up village telcos in rural communities in South Africa. The established network, operational since 2014, is called Zenzeleni networks, meaning "do it yourself" in isiXhosa, the Eastern Cape's most prevalent language. Ÿ With the local authority's permission, a not-for-profit cooperative "Zenzeleni Networks Ltd" comprising ten local and respected people was formed, to run the network. This co-operative with the help of University of Western Cape designed the network layout, and installed 12 solar powered mesh wireless network stations mounted on and inside houses, covering an area of 30 sq.km. These installation points are also equipped with analogue phones for those without mobile phones Ÿ Apart from zero energy costs, the Independent Communications Authority of

8 South Africa (ICASA) has exempted operation fees from Zenzelini Networks that has helped in providing affordable services such as voice calls (20 ZAR cents as compared to conventional ZAR 1.50) and data (20 to 40 times cheaper) to the locals. The solar powered stations also charge cell phone batteries, at much lower costs as compared to local shops or shebeen Ÿ Since March 2014, the project has earned revenues of around ZAR 33,600 (about USD$2422.16), which is utilized for running the network. The remainder profit is utilized for community development such as extending micro-loans to residents for starting small businesses Further, Zenzeleni Networks plans to expand to nearby 20 to 30 communities surrounding Mankosi, to provide affordable and sustainable communication services to more than 300,000 people. Key Learning

Ÿ Solar power can act as an enabler for providing accessible, affordable and sustainable telecommunication services and integrating remote rural communities to economic development Ÿ Replication of the Zenzelini Networks model holds the key to strengthen and empower community led co-operatives with stable flow of finances, which would be instrumental in creating a healthy pool of finances that could be leveraged to meet local development demands

Source: Internet Society

9 Case Study 2. Renewable Energy Solutions for Lake Victoria Ecosystems (RESOLVE)

Background The communities on the shores of Lake Victoria, Kenya are among the poorest in the country, with approximately 71% of the population living below the poverty line. The region near the lake is non-cultivable, and fishing has been the mainstay for the local community. With hot sunny days round the year, night fishing becomes a necessity. As the region is not connected to grid, the power source has been always a critical limiting factor for the community. With limited access to energy, there is a lack of income-generating opportunities in these villages, making fishing the only stable livelihood option. Given the absence of electricity, refrigeration/freezing of fish is not possible and leads to fish being spoiled. Additionally, households, fisherman and small emerging businesses in the region remain dependent on kerosene lanterns or candles for lighting which apart from being inadequate light source, also cause dizziness, headaches, and eye and lung infections from the fumes, reducing the productivity and creating health hazards for the users. Fossil fuels form a major expense for both the households and business in this underprivileged community, limiting their ability to expend on basic needs such as food, education and transport.

Intervention

In May 2013, Renewable World along with FASCOBI and OSEIENALA installed six solar micro-grids across Ng'ore, Got Kachola, Ragwe, Resira Beach, Tabla and Luanda Romboshores of Lake Victoria. Community Based Organizations (CBO), comprising of 11 elected executives from the community, with 30% women, were legally established to manage and run each of these micro-grids. All six communities have also elected two members from CBO to create a Savings and Credit Cooperative (SAACO) that provides a mechanism to coordinate learning, improve collective savings and cross-lend across the communities as well as attract external financing for the maintenance and development of new energy hubs. The primary energy user, the fishing community, has been formally pooled together to form Beach Management Unit (BMU).

10 The project has had a transformative impact on the livelihood and living conditions of the regional residents: Ÿ Access to power across these six communities has increased the diversification of income generating opportunities, with new small business being launched by the locals, including mobile charging services. The BMUs have been able to increase members' average income levels by 9.4%with access to freezers that keep their stock fresh. Some micro-businesses have increased their income by 150% Ÿ These micro-grids have enabled a deeper penetration of information and telecommunication. CBOs have also invested in a satellite TV, improving access to news and information at a small fee. In Ng'ore and Got Kachola, youth-led communication and information hubs have been established, each equipped with three computers, a printer and internet connection Ÿ Households are spending a significantly smaller proportion of their income on energy bills, with the average monthly expenditure on energy for lighting decreasing by more than 50% Ÿ Between 2013 and 2016, the region witnessed 12% decrease in heart and respiratory problems. Burns related injuries have seen a drastic 77% decrease. The introduction of a suitable solar-charged lantern for night time fishing has improved the working conditions of fishing communities Key Learning

Ÿ Innovative solar interventions play a critical role in simultaneously addressing multiple issues prevailing in rural and remote communities. The intervention has been instrumental in providing access to energy, improving livelihoods and health, while also taking into account climate change concerns Ÿ Community engagement and capacity building are of utmost importance to sustain the interventions. The intervention

11 has targeted capacity building of the community that can effectively run and manage the energy hubs, and in- turn has ensured the sustainability of the intervention

Source: The RESOLVE PROJECT

Case Study 3. Scaling Solar Rooftop, Rwanda

Background Rwanda – the land of a thousand hills – is a small, land-locked country with a population of just 11.7 million. In order to fuel its economic growth, Rwanda is targeting substantial increase in its energy supply and access to electricity. Rwanda's Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) plans to achieve 70% of electricity access by 2017-2018, up from 21% in 2016. The electrification project is a part of Rwanda's Vision 2020. The Government also intends to reduce energy generation based on wood consumption from 80% to 50% by 2050. It is also focussing on off-grid solutions and is pushing Solar Home Systems that leverage solar roof top technologies to provide electricity solutions to rural and remote population. The major challenge lies in mobilizing adequate financing for timely achievement

12 of these targets. Rwanda needs about USD 4.2 billion in investments under a proposed accelerated plan. Public financing would be able to cover roughly 40% of the cost. Intervention

Public-Private-Partnership provides avenues to bridge the financing gap. In 2014, the Rwandan Government engaged with Ignite Power, one of the solar developers and financiers in Africa, to initiate a pilot of 1,000 households in four districts to provide roof top solar solutions as Solar Home Systems. With the successful implementation of the pilot, the Government and Ignite Power went into an agreement in 2016 to scale rooftop solar to 250,000 households across the nation by 2018. Ignite Power will provide the financing for the USD 50 million project, and has further signed a rollout agreement with Energizing Development (EnDev), an energy access partnership currently financed by six donor countries: The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, United kingdom, Switzerland and Sweden. The Government of Rwanda provides a conducive environment for Ignite Power to scale solar rooftop through credit guarantees and continued political support. The flexible pay-as-you-go model has made it easy for customers to own their Solar Home Systems post two year of rent. The systems come with a 2 year guarantee and unlimited after-sale services. The system consists of four lights that can provide up to 6 hours of light, charging capability for 2 phones as well as a free radio, and is repayable within 24 months. Overall, since the roll out in 2016, the public-private-partnership has had profound impact on scaling up the solar roof top in the region: Ÿ In the first 7 months, 20,000 solar home systems were installed Ÿ According to Bloomberg, it has a connection rate of close to 250 homes reaching 1,500 people per day in Rwanda. The company is on its way to reaching its goal of connecting 500 households a day Ÿ With operational efficiencies and economies of scale, Rwanda now have the most Affordable Solar Home Systems in Africa Ÿ Public-Private-Partnership can help in mobilizing the much needed local commercial capital towards solar roof top, indicating a movement from

13 Key Learning nichefinancing to mainstream capital Ÿ Public-Private-Partnership can be further leveraged to gain from expertise, experience, innovations and operational efficiencies of private players Ÿ The active participation of a strong government has been critical to the success of the project Ÿ The project provides a model which may be highly scalable and feasible for other African Source: Ignite Power nations

Case Study 4. Solar Bakery, Tanzania

Background Kifuru village, located in the Kisarawe District, is among the 6 districts of the Pwani Region of Tanzania, and has a total of more than 780 residents. Agriculture has been the district's mainstay for livelihood, providing income source to 82% of the economically active population. Being surrounded by forest reserves, other main economic activities are based on forest products such as wood and charcoal. Annual per capita income in the region is estimated to be USD 470 according to 2012 census, which is lower when compared to Tanzania Mainland (USD 640). Access to electricity is one of the major challenges in remote and rural villages in Tanzania, limiting the livelihood opportunities to farming. Further, due to the seasonality of farming, most villagers including women are involved in tree cutting and charcoal business, leading to degradation of forest cover. As economic activity is limited, young people aspire to move to the cities for better opportunities.

14 Intervention

R20 Regions of Climate Action (a coalition of partners led by regional governments) and Rural Urban Development Initiative (RUDI, a private sector development organization) conceived a solar bakery at Kifuru village, with grant from Energy and Environment Partnership of Southern and East Africa (EEP S&EA). Initial stages involved engagement with female entrepreneurs through trainings, strategy workshops and stakeholder consultation. RUDI conducted a technical workshop for 54 female bakers with the participation of representatives from the Department of Social Development of Kisarawe District, along with a 5-day baking training. An MSME named "Kazimzumbwi Eco Bakery"(KEB) was formed by the local arm of Voice of Women Entrepreneurship Tanjania (VoWET, a not-for profit-women-partnership) to run the bakery. The village administration made the land available for the project while RUDI's project team constructed the facility. In 2017, the project became operational and has since created new sustainable employment opportunities, empowered female entrepreneurs and reduced their vulnerability to poverty while addressing degradation of natural resources. The Kifuru women group members are able to generate stable income from the sales of their baked products and are much less dependent on seasonal farming activities. There have been many direct and indirect benefits to the locals including: Ÿ 6 women staff being employed for daily and permanent operations Ÿ 35 women benefit from rotational work at the bakery Ÿ Creation of sub-groups to form small businesses that provide milk, eggs and other raw material to the solar bakery Ÿ 5 members from Kifuru village youth group become distributor agents for neighbouring villages Ÿ Women at Kazimzumbwi Eco Bakery becoming able to generate a stable income through monthly sale of €1,081 (USD 1,322) while avoiding exposure to firewood smoke Ÿ Solar Bakery saving up to 150 tons of wood annually, which results in the reduction of 277 tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) annually

15 Key Learning

Ÿ Innovative solar applications holds potential to effectively extend beyond simply reducing local environmental damage, to actually improving livelihoods, health and economic activities for the community, especially for women empowerment Ÿ Replicability of such small scale sustainable businesses provide opportunities for government and development agencies to leverage Source: R20- Regions of Climate Action such interventions for scaling their efforts in socio-economic upliftment

Case Study 5. First Securitization deal for Off-grid solutions, Kenya

Background Kenya being an equatorial country, extending four degrees on either side of the equator, receives a considerable amount of solar radiation. Kenya holds tremendous potential in solar energy and is a world leader in the number of solar power systems installed per capita. Decentralized solutions are gaining traction and are becoming attractive among rural population, as it is a reliable and efficient alternative source of energy, compared to electric grids that carry relatively high connectivity costs. Further, emergence of new payment systems which allow customers to pay in installments through their mobile phones, is facilitating adoption of off-grid solar applications. Several notable solar power distributors including M-Kopa have emerged with locally adopted payment schemes such as pay-as-you-go and microfinance models. Despite the potential and pace of growth of solar in Kenya, the sector still faces difficulties in attracting sufficient investments. The mainstream debt market perceives the emerging business models in the sector as highly risk prone, as they

16 involve relatively new technology, paid for by low-income clients with limited to no credit history. Intervention

Financial instruments such as securitization serve as a right tool to address these issues and have the potential to pave the way for more investments in the sector. In 2015, Dutch investment firm Oikocredit and UK-based solar energy provider, BBOXX, partnered to structure Kenya's first securitization to finance off-grid solar market solutions in its rural areas. In setting up this structure, Oikocredit and BBOXX were led by Persistent Energy Capital, a financial advisor specialized in the energy access sector in frontier markets. Through the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), BBOXX DEARs, the contracts of BBOXX customers who have bought solar home systems and have agreed to pay off in installments, were pooled together. BBOXX DEARs then issued notes that were purchased by Oikocredit. The value of the notes is based on future receivables on the customers' contracts. The sale of these contracts provided BBOXX with capital to supply approximately 1,200 new solar home systems to households with limited or no access to grid electricity, benefitting an estimated 7,000 people Key Learning Ÿ Aggregation and securitization provides a methodology to finance adoption of solar electricity by off-grid customers at a larger scale Ÿ The deal demonstrates the suitability of the innovative financing mechanism in Africa, paving the way for other lenders to scale up the much needed investments to fuel the early-stage growth of the off-grid solar sector Ÿ Securitization as an innovative instrument holds enormous potential in mobilizing mainstream debt for financing off-grid solutions to low income groups through addressing perceived risks and can be emulated and replicated in other regions and for similar purposes Source: ESI Africa

17 Case Study 6. Innovative solar tunnels for food processing, Mozambique

Background Mozambique is located in the southwest region of Africa, with a population of 28,829,476 as per a 2017 estimate. The country's economy is based largely on agriculture. Mozambique has a tropical climate with two seasons, a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September. Due to the seasonality of agricultural activities, including vegetable and fruit harvests, the farmers face risk of spoilage of produce in the absence of adequate preserving and storing measures. They are thus forced to sell their harvest at much lower prices. Also, the spoilage of food left for self-consumption leads to food shortages and malnutrition among farmers.

Intervention The project was funded by WISIONS of Sustainability (an initiative by the Wuppertal Institute) and was implemented by Humana Fundación Pueblo para Pueblo (regional NGO covering various nations in sub-saharan Africa), in cooperation with a local NGO, ADPP Mozambique. In co-operation with local farmer's association, six innovative solar tunnel dryers for food processing and preservation have been built. The tunnels are 3.5 metres wide, 5 metres long and 2 metres high, and are constructed from bamboo and plastic. The ground has been lined with stones, sand, bricks and cement. Apart from UV plastic which was imported from Tanzania, all other material has been sourced locally. The farmer association owns the solar dryers and is responsible for its operation, maintenance and servicing. A Small fees is collected by the association for the use of dryers and covers servicing and maintenances. Apart from technical capacity-building, the project has also trained 18 female entrepreneurs in nutrition, food processing, drying, storage and micro/small business development. These women are now responsible for managing the solar tunnels and have established schedules that enable 50 families to dry their produce.

18 Overall, the project has led to multiple benefits for the locals: Ÿ 300 farmers have benefited from the introduction of the six solar dryers Ÿ Harvest losses have been significantly reduced and local food security has improved Ÿ Farmers no longer need to sell their vegetables and fruits at low prices immediately after harvesting, and can achieve better prices for their dried products

Key Learning The innovative and simple technology of the solar tunnel dryers, together with the local availability of materials and sufficient sunshine, makes this project easily replicable elsewhere in Mozambique and near-by nations

Source: The Alliance of Rural Electrification (ARE)

19 Case Study 7. Solar power as an alternative income source to minimise climate risk to agriculture – Gujarat, India

Background In India, most of the farms depend on electric pumps for irrigation. Erratic monsoon patterns, poor irrigation, limited availability of electricity and the high cost of pumping groundwater are the main challenges for farmers. Deficit in rainfall and poor irrigation infrastructure leaves farmers with meagre net income from crops. Solar water pumps have become affordable to farmers due to declining prices of Photovoltaic (PV) panels. When irrigation is not underway, solar pumps remain ideal, and there is a need to develop additional mechanisms that can facilitate income generation from them.

Intervention

International Water Management Institute, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Water, Land and Ecosystems Program of the CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) , and India-Tata Program collaborated to pilot the 'Solar Pump Irrigators' Cooperative Enterprise (SPICE) and a pilot was run in Dhundi village (Kheda district, Gujarat). A cooperative group of local farmers was established. Cooperative entity purchased six solar water pumps with total capacity of 56.4 kWp. To ensure income generation during non-irrigation time, 25 year power purchase agreements were instated with Madhya Gujarat Vij Compay Limited (MGVCL) at INR 4.63 / kWh.

Key Learning

Adjoining graph shows the increment in income level of farmers. With the additional income, farmers were able recover capex within 1 year of operation. As the capex is recovered, irrigation from the pump becomes free of cost and further income is earned by selling excess power for next 25 years. On the other hand,

20 MGVCL can save up to INR 8.17 lakh per year, as this power is relatively cheaper than formal sources, while also meeting renewable energy targets. Revenue generation via PPA motivated farmers to reduce water usage in irrigation, and feed the rest of the electricity back to the grid to earn extra income. Solar pump sets have contributed to avoiding carbon emissions by replacing diesel pumps. This pilot captured a lot of attention of government officials, academia and industry experts. Further Gujarat government created the draft policy on the model of solar cooperatives and government is working on plan to scale this project further in the state. Pilot experiments gather evidence on the viability of innovative models and can be used to encourage the government to scale it up with the appropriate policy support.

21 Case Study 8. World's first fully solar powered airport: Cochin Airport, Kerala, India

Background Cochin airport is the seventh busiest airport in India. It handles more than 1,000 flights a week, requiring 48,000 kWh per day which costs INR 3,36,000 per day (~USD 550). Given these high electricity costs, Cochin International Airport limited (CIAL) felt a strong need to curb the electricity expenses and to lead by example of being a solar powered airport. CIAL has expanded its previous small scale solar facility to a large scale facility, while also ensuring electricity throughout the year 24X7 for smooth airport operations.

Intervention

In March 2013, CIAL installed 100 KW solar roof top at its arrival terminal. This pilot w a s a l s o s u c c e s s f u l l y integrated with the state electricity grid. Further, 1MW capacity was added which was a combination of r o o f t o p a n d g r o u n d installation of PV modules. ) Learning from the above two experiences, CIAL team knew the technical requirements for 100% solar power installation. CIAL installed 46,000 panels generating 12 MW of clean energy at a capital expenditure of INR 62 crores (USD 9.5 million) with this energy being free from the 6th year.

Key Learning This solar installation is connected to Kerala State electricity grid without battery storage or power banking capacity. Through its arrangement with the grid, CIAL provides excess power to the grid and buys back the power from the grid when

22 needed, especially during night. Collaboration with the state grid helped to reduce cost of battery system and optimally utilize grid storage. CIAL's solar facility is producing 18 million kWh of clean energy annually (since 2015) and avoiding 3,00,000 mt of CO2 emissions which would require planting 3 million trees to offset. This effort has acted as a role model and inspired other airports in India to reap the benefits of solar power. Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi has installed 2.14 MW plant, Chennai airport has set up 1.5 MW plant for cargo section, and other major airports including Kolkata, Bangalore are working on plans to install solar plants. Airports mandatorily have vast, shade free buffer zones. If all 125 airports under Airport Authority of India go solar with an average 2 MW capacity, 250 MW total power will be generated. This will not only help airports becoming energy neutral, but the excess power generated can also light up thousands of houses with clean energy.

23 Case Study 9. Blended finance approach for private solar energy projects – Climate Investor One

Background In order to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, investments towards low- carbon energy would need about USD 500 billion annually by 2020, and up to USD 1 trillion by 2030. While across the world many countries have developed policies to promote renewable energy, financing has been a challenge that requires disruption through innovative financial mechanisms.

Intervention

Climate Investor One (CIO) is an award winning project from Global Innovation Lab for climate finance (2015), which provides financial solutions as per needs of renewable projects using blended finance instruments. Investors in this facility include FMO (Dutch development bank), the Dutch Government, USAID, Aegon asset management, NWB, Climate Fund Managers. Climate Fund Managers is the fund manager to this blended finance facility. 25-75 MW renewable energy projects in Asia, Latin America, Africa are slated to receive financial support under this facility. This facility constitutes of 3 different funds: 1)Development fund: Donors' capital will contribute to this fund. It would finance 50% of the development cost of project. This includes financial structuring, technical matters and ESG management. When t h e p r o j e c t t u r n s successful, the donor funding would get

24 converted to equity. Going forward, return from this equity investment will contribute to the earlier development fund making it rotational and increasing in quantum. 2)Construction Finance fund: Commercial loan will be provided for construction activities up to 75% of total cost. There are three tranches of investment: first loss donor tranche (20%), Mezzanine tranche (40%), and senior tranche (40%) 3)Refinancing fund: After start of operations, 40% of refinancing is provided by this fund. Long term investors who seek de-risked investment are investing in this fund

Key Learning

CIO closed its first fund at USD 412 million in June 2017. Ratio of public to private financing ratio is 1:1.71. Projects financed are solar, wind and hydro power projects from multiple geographies (Asia, Africa). Fund aims to catalyze ~USD 2 billion to deliver 20 fully financed renewable energy projects which will generate ~1,100 MW of additional clean energy capacity, impacting ~7 million underserved people. This project demonstrates how blended finance can be used to design financial solution which meets each phase requirement and garner interest of public and private investors to invest in such sunrise sector project.

25 Case Study 10. Solar Sharing – Simultaneous production of food and energy from same land, Japan

Background Generally, solar farms are usually built on barren or unused lands. Moreover, deriving more value from the land used for solar installations has been a challenge, owing to the land being locked for long duration and the resulting soil pollution during construction activities. Solar sharing is an innovative way to harness solar energy and at the same time enabling normal cultivation on that land.

Intervention

Solar sharing technique was first developed by Mr. Akira Nagashima in 2003. Until Fukushima disaster, this technique was not widely known in Japan. This event forced the Japanese government to increase the focus on renewable energy. T h e G o v e r n m e n t introduced renewable feed-in tariff policy which made it compulsory for power companies to buy renewable power. This change in policy enabled small farmers to adopt solar sharing models on t h e i r f a r m l a n d s t o generate renewable power and sell to the power companies. Figure Solar Sharing Source: GPSS-GLI In this technique, solar panels are installed at a level of 3 meters above the ground. Panels are widely placed so that two third of radiation goes to field / plant photosynthesis and one third radiation falls on panels. This technique is based on the fact that crops don't require all the solar radiance for photosynthesis. Moreover, excess sunlight reduces the moisture level and causes

26 more evaporation, which is not good for farming. This excess sunlight is used by Solar sharing model to generate energy. Source: GPSS - GLI

Key Learning

Mounting structure has allowed farmers to use tractor and other equipment as usual and generate extra income with feed-in-tariffs. Net income of farmer has increased substantially with generation of clean energy. A small 40 kW plant on a farm, is generating enough energy can support 15-20 Japanese families. Innovation of installing panels in farms have allowed continuation of farming activity along with electricity generation, and can be easily adopted by small farmholders. Figure shows that if 20% of farmers adopts solar sharing model, ~475 million MWh of electricity will be generated which is about 57% of the country's total demand. Japan has set the regulation, which prohibits usage of solar sharing modules if the crop yield is reduced by 20%. This rule is set to strike the b a l a n c e b e t w e e n Source: GPSS - GLI energy generation and food production. The Government is supporting solar sharing with appropriate policies like removing restriction on cultivable land for panel installation and feed-in-tariff, along with disincentivizing it in cases of reduced crop yields.

27 Case Study 11. Rural Electrification through RE Mini-grids, Indonesia

Background Being an archipelago of 13,446 islands, Indonesia has the geographical challenge to build countrywide grid and provide electricity to every individual. Diesel generator was a costly option as fuel transport cost was high. Mini-grid can be solution to provide electricity to remote locations, but high capex requirement and small size of project forms a financing challenge that needs to be addressed. Intervention

The Indonesian government launched a rural electrification project 'REwiRE' to electrify villages through establishment of renewable energy mini-grid system. Government has created a holding company REwiRE LLC, which is responsible for executing the project. This project has adopted an innovative financing structure. Village level micro grids have been established as a 50 : 50 percent partnership between holding company REwiRE LLC and village cooperative. REwiRE LLC raised finances from global institutional investors and impact investors and is supported by grant GPOBA. Asian Development Bank provided a minimum 6% return guarantee to an institutional investor who own the 40% stake in REwiRE project. Pilot was done at Sumba Island in Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) province. This pilot provided the electricity to the 80% of the villagers. Key Learning REwiRE bundled small grid projects into packages large enough to successfully attract the institutional investors. Electrifying the remote villages has brought tectonic change in village economy with the increase in productivity, income generating sources, improvement in living standards and reducing dependency on fossil fuel.

28 Case Study 12. Solar power to stave off the water crisis, Spain

Background Agriculture contributes to 70% of the total water usage globally. With the global population expected to increase to nine billion by 2050, demand for this already scarce resource is expected to increase by 55 %, affecting agriculture drastically if the sector does not attain efficiencies. In addition to this, erratic rain patterns and increasingly dry spells owing to climate change is adding to the woes of agriculture. Energy expense for irrigation is very high due to hike in tariffs, and is compounded by excess water usage. As per the Spanish federation of irrigation, it was noted that in the last 10 years, cost of irrigation has increased by 600%. Intervention

The MASLOWATEN consortium is an EU funded project, and has developed a solar powered irrigation system that can save 30% of water consumed during irrigation. This system consists of solar PV arrays that are set up in farm, which powers up a Smart irrigation system that helps farmers determine the appropriate water requirement during irrigation to avoid wastage as well as excess usage. Key Learning Powered by solar energy, this system has proved to be a money saver by reducing energy expense by up to 70%. This project gained popularity in a very short span of time and MASLOWATEN is conducting training seminars in multiple provinces of Spain. The company has expanded its coverage and has already conducted pilots in Italy, Morocco and Portugal. This project when coupled with EU funded MOSES project, which combines weather forecasts with data from satellites and weather stations and adds it to regional information about crops, soil and water delivery, would be able to better inform authorities and farmers on water availability in the region, and would help manage crop-irrigation water and bring down overall energy costs.

29 Case Study 13. Feldheim: first energy self-sufficient village, Germany

Background Germany is undergoing an unprecedented energy transformation that aims to reduce carbon emissions (95% of 1990 figures by 2050), increase the use of renewable energy (80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2022), and stop all nuclear power by 2022. Feldheim is a small village (population of around 145 inhabitants), south of Berlin that is at the forefront of Germany's energy revolution and is sourcing 100% of its energy from renewables mainly wind, biomass and solar. It is cited as one of the best examples of achieving decentralized self-sufficiency.

Intervention

The energy revolution started in 1995 when entrepreneur and then-engineering student erected four wind turbines. Following the success of the pilot project and with community's close involvement, the village now boasts of a modern wind farm with 47 turbines producing 175 million kilowatt hours of electricity every year. The second phase involved building a biogas plant, on the back of falling crop prices and rising energy costs. The facility converts maize, cereal silage and a mixture of pig and cow manure into methane, used for heating purposes. In 2008, Feldheim commissioned a solar farm, which now produces enough electricity to power 600 households. The town consumes less than 1% of the electricity produced annually by its wind turbines and solar panels, selling the rest back to the energy market. The village is now exploring to put battery storage systems in place to ensure consistency of supply.

Key Learning Achieving energy self-sufficiency through community involvement creates new avenues for job creation and tourism growth. Residents are employed in the biogas, wind and solar farms, virtually erasing unemployment. The village, being a role model has also seen an influx of 3,000 visitors annually.

30 Case Study 14. Promoting Solar Rooftops, United Kingdom

Background UK aims to derive over 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 with 2% from small-scale sources. The United Kingdom (UK) Government has put forward a range of financial incentives to tackle climate change and ensure energy security. However, large scale uptake of solar technologies requires mobilizing communities and encouraging them to adopt these in their day to day life. Intervention The FIT scheme was designed to promote the uptake of low carbon electricity technologies by the public and communities in the UK and provides three financial Incentives: Ÿ Generation Tariff: The energy supplier will pay a set rate for each unit (kWh) of electricity generated. The level of tariff is dependent on the technology and size of installation Ÿ Export Tariff: All technologies receive a further 3.1p/kWh for each unit of electricity supplied to the grid. Currently, it is estimated as 50% of the electricity generated Electricity bill savings: Electricity generated on-site will reduce the amount of electricity required from the grid resulting in reduced energy bills The FIT scheme is centered around offering guaranteed prices for fixed periods to enable greater number of investors Key Learning Ÿ The introduction of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme (FITs) in the UK has accelerated the deployment of PV technologies Ÿ Over the years, the cost of installing PV systems has reduced significantly more than predicted by Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) initially enabling higher adoption Ÿ A healthy Return on Investment (ROI) can be made on PV installations provided the future installations focus on off-setting electricity required from the national grid Ÿ While the cost of purchasing and installing solar PV technology has reduced dramatically since the introduction of the FIT, it still requires government support to continue

31 Case Study 15. Refinancing of Solar Portfolio, France

Background Sonnedix France SAS is an independent solar power producer and has 66 solar projects with 795 MW of controlled capacity and 353 MW of operating / complete capacity in 9 countries. The company also has a pipeline of solar PV projects in excess of 1,000 MW. Sonnedix is constantly looking to further grow its PV portfolio and it is important to free up capital by means of refinancing of its operational assets. It has aligned 6 ground mounted assets with a total installed capacity of 57.3MWp located in France. All plants reached Commercial Operation Date ("COD") between July 2011 and August 2012. The electricity produced is sold to EDF via 20-year Power Purchase Agreements that have an average remaining life of 16 years and two months as of January 2016. Structuring of such diverse projects require various advisors which will have to work in complete coordination to finish the transaction.

Intervention

Ÿ Sonnedix was advised by various advisors including Linklaters (legal advisor) and Astris Finance (financial advisor). The lenders were advised by Marsh (insurance), Deloitte (model audit), OST Energy (technical) and Clifford Chance (legal) Ÿ Three lenders were brought together as lead arrangers: Natixis, Banco Santander and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, a member of the MUFG Group Ÿ Natixis also acted as facility agent, account bank, documentation and technical bank, with Banco Santander as the insurance bank and The Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd as the modelling bank. Ÿ Astris Finance used a unique technology and structuring toolbox to optimize portfolio refinancings across several SPVs Ÿ OST energy acted as the Technical Advisor for the lenders carrying out a yield and performance analysis, site visits and a technical review of the entire project

32 Key Learning

Ÿ This is the largest refinancing in France for solar assets Ÿ The offer took advantage of attractive market conditions to increase the quantum of debt and improve the quality of the debt (extended maturity, lower coverage ratios and tighter margins) Ÿ The transaction was completed for Euro 203 million, largest in France Ÿ The transaction was completed in record time Ÿ The refinancing allowed Sonnedix to free-up cash, reinforce the long-term stability of their French fleet and create value for shareholders Ÿ Thorough technical, financial and legal analysis leads to easier refinancing transactions Ÿ Other solar power producers can gain from such experience to free up their cash for future growth

33 Case Study 16. Deer Lake First Nation Elementary School, Canada

Background First Nations people are descendants of the predominant aboriginal Canadians, south of the Arctic, who lived there for many thousands of years even before explored by Europeans. They primarily live in the remote pockets of the country. Due to its be simplicity of technology and reliability, diesel generators have been widely implemented in these remote communities which consume 215 million litres of diesel annually, resulting in an economic burden. Further as a result of diesel consumption, the per capita carbon footprint of the First Nations is nearly double than the national average (4.6 tons of CO2e per capita as compared to 2.6 tons of CO2e per capita). Nearly 200 such communities are not connected to an electricity grid and must rely on diesel generators for power. They frequently encounter blackouts, fuel spills and a shortage of capacity, which impede their growth and development. Moreover diesel is very expensive and logistics of fuel in extreme winters is a cumbersome task. Due to shortage of diesel, First Nations are often forced to close their schools and public buildings during extreme winter.

Intervention

Canadian Solar, one of the world's largest solar power companies, installed the first diesel hybrid PV system in the remote micro-grids in the community's elementary school in northern Ontario, Canada in 2016. The 152kW rooftop solar array on the Deer Lake First Nation Elementary School is completed with its supplier partners, NCC Development, a First Nation renewable energy management firm. The collaboration is targeting to build micro-grid solutions to assist the energy needs of off-grid First Nations and remote communities. It is imperative for a sustainable and renewable solution to have a proper understanding of the daily energy use patterns throughout the year along with proper assessments for energy savings at the community level for providing support at maximum efficiency. The daily energy pattern information can optimize cost by shifting loads away from peak demand periods. The installation

34 will reduce the community's costs by USD 92,000 a year compared to a hefty fuel cost of USD 2.7 million, its diesel fuel consumption by at least 31,000 litres per year, and its carbon emissions by 99 tons annually.

Key Learning

Renewable energy deployment (even partial) can deliver economic benefit to the community, especially in locations where diesel generators are the main source of power. NCC has identified more than 80 First Nations and remote communities for potential RE micro-grid solution deployment.

35 Case Study 17. SolarCity solar rooftop program for home owners, USA

Background Two-third of USA citizens give priority to developing alternative energy over fossil fuels, according to the latest survey conducted by Pew Research Center. Almost half of the big US companies have established internal clean-energy targets. Renewable energy dramatically reduces global warming emissions, improves public health, and provides jobs and other economic benefits. Being a developed nation and a forerunner in technology, USA has to initiate mitigation against fossil fuel impact. Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges that the world faces, and the main cause is its dependence on fossil fuels. Intervention

SolarCity designs, installs, and maintains solar-energy systems fitted to homeowners' roofs. The roof tiles are made of textured glass and retain the aesthetics of roof shingles. It allows light to pass through from above onto a standard flat solar cell. Panasonic supplies the solar cells and SolarCity manufactures the glass tiles and auxiliary materials. Tesla, which has acquired SolarCity claims that the tempered glass is as strong as steel and can endure all extreme conditions. It can also be appended with heating elements which can clear snow during extreme winters. SolarCity's leasing model has received a lot of traction with the user base, as the upfront pricing reduces, and combined with the energy savings from the grid and the sale of surplus electricity to the grid, there is a further reduction in the user's electricity bill. Key Learning

The initial roll-out of solar roof was limited only for employees and with its model becoming a huge success, SolarCity is now planning to sell its solar rooftop solutions through home depot, opening it to the larger

36 customer base. SolarCity is leveraging Tesla's brand name and marketing capability to gain more traction. Under the aegis of Tesla, SolarCity is expected to come up with efficient, streamlined and appealing products for mass audience.

Source: Solarcity

37 Case Study 18. Mexican solar power offers cheap electricity, Mexico

Background Energy prices in Mexico have been historically very high compared to those of developed nations. The electricity costs in Mexico for commercial and non- subsidized residential users are 25% higher than the US, while Mexican industrial users pay electricity prices that are almost 85% higher than those paid in the US Mexico's energy sector faces severe security lapses, field mismanagement, water shortages for shale, lack of infrastructure, and pipeline pilferage, which all add up to low investor confidence. The Government had to bolster the industry by pumping more money and regulatory support, to boost investments.

Intervention

The key reforms boosting the power sector are the streamlining and simplification of the permitting process for new projects. Mexico changed its Constitution and de-regulated the energy sector in 2013 by lifting stringent federal control, which has increased the scope for foreign investment. Mexico has also leveraged its free- trade agreements in the world that associate them with 40+ nations, and the liberalization of the electricity market enabled private capital to build generation plants to sell electricity in the wholesale market, or sign purchase contracts directly with customers. The Government also came up with rebates and tax benefits for increasing user adoption. Some of the steps are discussed below: 1) Net metering: Net metering allows solar panel users to credit the surplus electricity produced to the grid and receive it back when the panels are not generating 2) Sustainable building tax credit: New Mexico state government credits users on their taxes if they install solar panels in their buildings. The credits are determined by the certification level given by the US Green Building Council to the building 3) Property tax exemption: Property tax is exempted for buildings which have solar rooftop installations

38 4) Investment Tax Credit (ITC): ITC allows a user to claim 30% of solar equipment and installation costs on federal taxes

Key Learning

Policies and incentives established at the national level is infusing momentum in the renewable energy sector. The new regulatory framework that came into effect as a result of the energy reform is another driving force to initiate the change. With the lowering cost and regulatory support, solar power in Mexico is exponentially growing. It is contributing to a better economic growth, which had so far been restrained due to high energy costs.

Case Study 19. Solar powered vertical farming, USA

Background With a growing population and dwindling resources globally, alternative options are being explored for meeting the growing demand for food. An out of the box solution is required to tackle this constraint and relieve the pressure off the land and forest. With an estimated 66% of the world's population living in urban areas by 2050, the need for modern and efficient urban farming is growing.

Intervention

Vertical farming is the utilization of vertical buildings (old warehouses and unused factories) through setting up infrastructure that can grow crops in artificial light. It relies on technology to provide artificial conducive environment for vegetation. Metropolis Farms, a leader in indoor farming innovations, has built

39 the first solar powered vertical indoor farm in Philadelphia. The farm utilized an old warehouse and can grow crops throughout the year. The indoor farm is equivalent to 660 acres of conventional farm and 100,000 square-foot rooftop is equipped with 2003 solar panels. It is equipped to produce fresh tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, herbs, broccoli, and other crops for local demand. With renewable energy powering the indoor farm, all power needs for circulating water and keeping the lights on, are accounted for. Another firm, Square Roots is focusing on vertical farming, as the urban need for food is increasing. Square Roots is currently investor-backed and is planning to produce crops perennially and supply locally produced and healthy food to inner city population. Square Roots is also planning to create vertical farms inside shipping containers and is proposing to pass it over to entrepreneurs on contract, spinning it off as a franchise model.

Key Learning

Vertical farming can produce large quantity of crops, by leveraging technology to create optimum air quality, mineral quality, water quality and light quality. With the use of solar, the impacts of vertical farming can be multiplied, as carbon emissions reduce along with contributing to food security. This model is very flexible and entrepreneurs can look after individual vertical farms on franchise basis. With the development of vertical farming technologies embedded with solar, and the likely fall in cost associated with both vertical farming and solar panels, models can be even replicated at home.

40 Case Study 20. Solar refrigeration system for improving livelihoods, Fiji

Background Wainika is a remote village north of Vanua Lavu, Fiji where fishing is the primary source of livelihood and occupation. The nearest market where fish can be sold however, is located at a distance and the villagers need to travel by road for two hours and by boat for about 45 minutes. The fish often gets spoilt due to heat during transit, leading to heavy economic losses and affecting their income and lives. Intervention

The French embassy in Suva supported the Government of Tuvalu and has appointed the University of South Pacific to conduct a study and stakeholder consultation on the needs of local community to identify specific interventions to improve livelihoods and generate additional income. The study suggested a solar PV powered community refrigeration system which can be used to freeze the fish prior to transporting it to the market. The system installed in December 2015 is backed up by a diesel generator and battery storage for long term use. The villagers now save on the cost of other preservation techniques like ice and smoking up of fish. The system also supports charging of mobiles and community lighting at the community center. Key Learning Ÿ In just one quarter, between December 2015 to February 2016, the freezer had stored approximately two tonnes of fish Ÿ The system has an earning potential of USD 12,500 per year with an initial investment of USD 14,000 Ÿ Emulating the success, the

41 system has been installed in four more islands of Yanuca, Tavuki (Kadavu), Mali and Kia Ÿ The entrepreneur operating the refrigeration system has the opportunity to trade in other frozen items, such as ice creams and ice candies to the local community Ÿ Solutions when developed in consultation with the community have larger probability of adoption and creating business case within the community Source: IRENA

Case Study 21. Providing 24 hour power supply to remote islands, Tuvalu

Background Tuvalu is a pacific island country consisting of three reef islands and six atolls with a population of 11,000. The provision of electricity in these islands is primarily dependent on diesel generation, as extension of grid to these locations pose significant logistical challenge. Diesel systems are expensive and unreliable given the dependence on the supply of diesel and the significant environment cost to the sea

Intervention

The Government of Tuvalu collaborated with the European Union to install three

42 mini grids in the islands of Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Nui. The solar installation is supported by battery storage that ensures 24 hour power supply to the communities. The electricity produced by solar power is cheaper and more reliable than the existing diesel generation system.

Key Learning

Ÿ The solar installations meet 60% of the electricity demand in three islands

which also avoids 12,000 kg of CO2e per annum Ÿ The 24 hour power supply has been instrumental in changing the lives of people especially for the outer islands of Tuvalu, providing access to newer set of services made possible due to electricity. Some of the benefits include: 1) Freezing facility for fish and other food products allowing long term availability of food on the island 2) Light during late evening hours to improve productivity and education of children 3) Health services have improved as electricity is available to power medical instruments, and also for storage of medicines and vaccines Ÿ The experience from the three mini-grids is expected to help Tuvalu achieve its 100% electricity from renewable sources by 2020

43 Case Study 22. Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia

Background Australia is one of the leading markets for solar along with other renewable energy, with 17.3% of total electricity deployed coming from renewable sources, out of which 3.17% is contributed by solar alone. Further to this, the country has taken an ambitious target of sourcing 20% (~33,000 GWh) of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. With Solar being pegged as the fastest growing segment of renewable energy in the country, large scale financing is required to achieve these targets.

Intervention

The Australian Government established the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), a statutory authority under the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012. The Act provides USD 2 billion per year for five years to CEFC for supporting commercial finance in the clean energy sector. The investment decisions are made by the CEFC Board, independent of Government, based on commercial decisions. CEFC makes its investments based on the objective of reducing overall carbon emissions of the country through three pathways - Low Carbon electricity, Energy Efficiency and Electrification & Fuel Switching

Key Learning

Ÿ CEFC has been able to mobilize USD 11 billion of total project value with an investment of USD 4.3 billion till 2016-17 and carbon abatement of

approximately 121 Mt CO2e Ÿ CEFC investments have grown from USD 484 million to USD 2.1 billion in 2016-17 from 2014-15 (4.3 times post two years) Ÿ In the year 2016-17, CEFC has mobilized USD 1.3 billion in investments, including a contribution of USD 440 million for solar energy installations that have exceeded 500 MW

44 Ÿ CEFC has financed various solar projects including solar PV on council buildings, office and industrial buildings, large-scale on-grid solar farms and small/medium sized power plants, solar-thermal greenhouses for agriculture, solar PV for manufacturers and small businesses, rooftop solar PV for households, and small to mid-size solar off grid projects Ÿ Financial structures used by CEFC included project finance, equity investments, energy efficiency loans, on-bill financing, and lease financing Ÿ Similar specialized commercial financing entities can be created to channelize finance to solar in different ISA countries

Case Study 23. Off – Grid charging points, Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Background In 2013, only 10% of PNG population was directly connected to the grid leaving a large population without access to formal power sources. Consumers spent between USD 120-150 million per annum on off-grid lighting through kerosene lanterns, battery torches, candles and firewood. Given that mobile penetration is considerable, with 62% of individuals and 88% of households owning mobile phones, there is limited capacity to charge locally. The users had to travel to the city and pay USD 1 - 3.5 for charging each mobile. There is a strong need for solar lighting and mobile charging solutions in these remote locations to provide access to modern energy sources. Despite the considerable mobile penetration, mobile operators are running into losses, as users are unable to use all the services owing to the lack of electricity to charge their devices. Intervention

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) partnered with Digicel, the largest telecom service provider in PNG, to provide charging solutions and raise awareness among the community about other solar lighting products at the local level.

45 Digicel provided the solar charging stations to the local entrepreneur who can charge up to 20 phones at a time with a nominal fee for the user, which is comparatively affordable than their previous options. The installation cost of around USD 150,000 was borne by IFC (backed by New Zealand Aid Program) and Digicel. The entrepreneur is trained to maintain the system from the revenues generated by the charging station. Key Learning

Ÿ After the pilot in 2013 which had 30 charging stations, the program has reached a scale of 244 stations by 2016, enabling the reach of phone charging and modern energy to 975,035 people (just above 10% of population of PNG) Ÿ The charging stations also have an LED street light which extends productive time of the local community, and also acts as a community gathering point during the night Ÿ This has improved the confidence for local users to use solar powered lighting systems Ÿ Digicel has cemented its position as a dominant mobile service provider in PNG and commands an average revenue per user (ARPU) of USD 9.5 per month in 2016, much higher than its competitors Bmobile & Citifon

Image Source: IFC

46 Case Study 24. Solar Powered Mega Center, Tarewa, New Zealand

Background Tarewa Mega center is one of the largest malls in Whangarei, New Zealand, where power tariffs are among the highest in the country. The monthly power bills for Tarewa Mega Center were as high as USD 13,000 in 2014, with the highest requirement during the day time in summer months to meet the air-conditioning needs. Tarewa's air-conditioning system and common areas use 326,542 kWh per year.

Intervention F o r t u n a t e l y , t h e e n e r g y requirement matches with the availability of solar irradiance, and the mall embarked on a grid- connected solar rooftop project with installation of 240kW. The installation was the largest rooftop installation in New Zealand in 2014. The Udy Group, owner of Tarewa Mega center, has completely funded the plant. Image Source: Stuff

Key Learning

Ÿ The system supplies 70-80% of the centre's daytime base load energy needs and is also expected to offset 80-90 air-conditioners' operating costs Ÿ Estimated energy production from the plant is 288,000 kWh per year Ÿ Since most of the energy is consumed as it is produced, very little energy is given to the national grid Ÿ Matching load and demand for solar applications helps reduce cost of storage and need for external grid integration

47 References

1. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/natural-disasters-doubled-financial- losses-worlwide-in-2017-munich-re-2475679.html Case Study 1. Zenzeleni Networks: Solar powered sustainable "Do it Yourself" telco model for rural community, South Africa

2. Upgrading the Zenzeleni Network: https://www.internetsociety.org/beyond-the- net/2016/upgrading-zenzeleni-network/

Case Study 2. Renewable Energy Solutions for Lake Victoria Ecosystems (RESOLVE)

3. The RESOLVE PROJECT: http://renewable-world.org/app/uploads/2017/05/THE- RESOLVE-PROJECT.pdf

Case Study 3. Scaling Solar Rooftop, Rwanda

4. Rwanda sets record again- Largest Solar project in East Africa: http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/208193/

Case Study 4. Solar Bakery, Tanzania

5 . T a n z a n i a S o l a r B a k e r y P r o j e c t : h t t p s : / / r e g i o n s 2 0 . o r g / w p - content/uploads/2017/07/Tanzania-Solar-Bakery-Case-Study_Edited-final-version_20- SEPT-2017.pdf

Case Study 5. First Securitization deal for Off-grid solutions, Kenya

6. Kenya bags Africa's first securitisation deal for off-grid solar: https://www.esi- africa.com/kenya-bags-africas-first-securitisation-deal-for-off-grid-solar/

Case Study 6. Innovative solar tunnels for food processing, Mozambique

7. WISIONS of Sustainability: https://www.ruralelec.org/project-case-studies/wisions- sustainability-humana-fundacion-pueblo-para-pueblo-adpp-mozambique

Case Study 7. Solar power as an alternative income source to minimise climate risk to agriculture – Gujarat, India

8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319701579_Progressing_towards_clim

48 ate_resilient_agriculture_Top_ten_success_stories_from_CCAFS_in_South_Asia

Case Study 8. World's first fully solar powered airport: Cochin Airport, Kerala, India

9. Kochi airport becomes world's first to completely operate on solar power http://cial.aero/Pressroom/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=360

Case Study 9. Blended finance approach for private solar energy projects – Climate Investor One

10. The Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance; Climate Investor One: https://climatefinancelab.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Climate-Investor-One- Overview.pdf Case Study 10. Solar Farming – Simultaneous production of food and energy from same land, Japan

11. Solar Farming

Case Study 11. Rural Electrification through RE Minigrids, Indonesia

1 2 . R E w i R E : R u r a l E l e c t r i f i c a t i o n w i t h R e n e w a b l e E n e r g y : http://sustainableinvestingchallenge.org/prosp_REwiRE.pdf

Case Study 12. Solar power to stave off the water crisis, Spain

13. Farmers bank on solar power to stave off European water crisis: https://horizon- magazine.eu/article/farmers-bank-solar-power-stave-european-water-crisis_en.html

Case Study 13. Feldheim: first energy self-sufficient village, Germany

14. Feldheim: Germany's renewable village: http://www.dw.com/en/feldheim- germanys-renewable-village/a-18466800

15. German village Feldheim the country's first community to become energy self- sufficient: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-10/german-village-first-to-become- energy-self-sufficient/5879360

16. First self-sufficient town in Germany: https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/renewable-energy/research/first-self- sufficient-town-in-germany

49 Case Study 14. Promoting Solar Rooftops, United Kingdom

17. Solar Feed in Tariffs in United Kingdom:

Case Study 15. Refinancing of Solar Portfolio, France

18. Refinancing

Case Study 16. Deer Lake First Nation Elementary School, Canada

1 9 . R e m o t e c o m m u n i t i e s g a i n a c c e s s t o r e a l p o w e r : https://www.canadiansolar.com/na/making-the-difference/remote-communities-gain- access-to-real-power.html

20. Canadian Solar and NCC complete diesel hybrid PV installation serving First Nation Community: https://www.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/canadian-solar-and-ncc- complete-diesel-hybrid-pv-installation-serving-first-nation-community_100014857/

Case Study 17. SolarCity solar rooftop program for home owners, USA

21. Remember solar roof? Tesla's making tiles in New York, installing them: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/01/tesla-making-solar-roof- tiles-in-buffalo-factory-general-installations-begin/

22. Power your home with clean energy: http://www.solarcity.com/residential/benefits- of-solar-energy Case Study 18. Mexican solar power offers cheap electricity, Mexico

23. New Mexico's solar incentives are some of the best in America: https://www.energysage.com/solar-rebates-incentives/nm/

24. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/08/the-future-of- renewable-power-in-mexico.html

Case Study 19. Solar powered vertical farming, USA

25. The World's First Solar Powered Indoor Farm Is Happening In Philadelphia: https://www.metropolisfarmsusa.com/single-post/2017/09/29/The-Worlds-First- Solar-Powered-Indoor-Farm-Is-Happening-In-Philadelphia

26. World's First Solar Powered Indoor Vertical Farm Comes To Philadelphia:

50 https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/03/worlds-first-solar-powered-indoor-vertical- farm-comes-philadelphia/

27. Philly Gets World's First Solar-Powered Indoor Vertical Farm: https://patch.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/philly-gets-worlds-first-solar-powered- indoor-vertical-farm

Case Study 20. Solar refrigeration system for improving livelihoods, Fiji

28. Solar supports village livelihoods and spurs business in Fiji: https://irenanewsroom.org/2017/10/15/solar-support s-village-livelihoods-and-spurs- business-in-fiji/#more-6652

Case Study 21. Providing 24 hour power supply to remote islands, Tuvalu

29. http://www.sprep.org/climate-change/powering-up-remote-tuvalu-through-solar;

30. http://www.sprep.org/attachments/Publications/CC/PIGGAREP/tuvalu- sustainable-energy.pdf

Case Study 22. Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia

31. https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/policy-advocacy/reports/clean-energy- australia-report.html

32. https://www.cefc.com.au/media/76506/clean-energy-week-2014-23-july-2014-.pdf

33. https://www.cefc.com.au/about-us.aspx

34. http://annualreport2017.cefc.com.au/

Case Study 23. Off – Grid charging points, Papua New Guinea (PNG)

35. https://www.lightingglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PNG-Off-Grid- Lighting-Market-Analysis_May-2014_1.pdf

36. https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/powering-up-in-papua-new-guinea/

37. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/09/29/connecting-the- unconnected-in-papua-new-guinea

51 38. https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/211208/digicel-and-ifc-to- build-cell-phone-solar-charging-stations-in-remote-png

39. https://www.lightingglobal.org/where-we-work/lighting-asia/east-asia-pacific- papua-new-guinea/

4 0 . http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site / n e w s + a n d + e v e n t s / n e w s / h a r n e s s i n g + p a p u a + n e w + g u i n e a + e v e r - present+sunshine+to+stay+safe+and+connected

41. https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/230701/png-solar-charging- stations-for-cellphones-will-mean-more-business

4 2 . https://www.jmmb.com/sites/default/files/Jamaica/Digicel_Group_Limited_Analysi s_Recommendation_January_31_2017.pdf Case Study 24. Solar Powered Mega Center, Tarewa, New Zealand

43. http://powersmartsolar.co.nz/tarewa-mall-solar-electricity-system

44. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1410/S00690/nzs-biggest-commercial-solar- energy-installation.htm

45. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/10630158/Solar-giant-goes-live

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