Using System Dynamics to Explore Solar Implementation Dynamics and Entrepreneurship Development in Rural India

Project Summary

Many around the world lack access to electricity and rely on burning unclean fuels that are detrimental to health outcomes to meet their energy needs. In rural India, IIT Bombay has been supporting the adoption of solar technology. Decentralizing the solar supply chain locally helps ensure access, affordability, and awareness to enable sustained use. Local entrepreneurship development shows promise as one way to ensure localization. To help support solar uptake and local entrepreneurship, there is a need to understand the complexity of implementing solar in local contexts and the community perspective of solar entrepreneurship dynamics. 

We used system dynamics modeling to develop an initial conceptual model exploring drivers and barriers to adoption and sustained use of solar energy technology to address energy poverty in rural communities in India. We built on this formative model by using a community-based system dynamics approach to engage communities in the process of sharing their perspective of solar technology implementation dynamics and entrepreneurship development. Undergraduate students were also involved through two interdisciplinary courses on social entrepreneurship that culminated with field work throughout India.  

Approach

• Use system dynamics to model the complexity of solar intervention implementation 
  
• Use Community-based system dynamics to convene key stakeholders to explore the following:
  • Key barriers or facilitators for solar technology providers to enable adoption and sustained use of solar technologies
  • Drivers of entrepreneurship development and the impact of entrepreneurship in local communities 
    

Key Findings

• Localizing the solar market, including assembly and distribution, helps seed demand, build confidence in new technology, and promote affordability
• Adoption of solar technology is influenced by perceptions of current users and there may be some delay before users of solar technologies reap the full benefits, impacting potential customers' perceptions of the benefits of solar and current users' maintenance habits. After-sales service provided in the community plays an important role in bolstering public perceptions by supporting ongoing maintenance and technology innovation based on user feedback
• Training and hands-on experience working with solar technology helped community members gain skills and confidence to kick start entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurs described greater financial independence and more power to make decisions on household expenses, motivating them to continue to work in solar
• Some entrepreneurs described using their solar income on household expenses like child education, which could act as a potential barrier to entrepreneurship over time as income is used for household expenses rather than reinvestment in the solar shop