A new chapter for solar energy access

For the last 4 years, Energise Africa has been helping people in the UK  invest their money to fund solar businesses operating in sub-Saharan Africa, successfully enabling more than 500,000 people to ditch kerosene as a fuel supply and access clean and affordable solar energy.

2021 sees us enter an exciting new chapter with the launch of our first investment bond that will fund a solar business, not in Africa. Our latest candi bond offer is funding solar energy access in India. But why invest in solar for India and what impact will your investments have?

On the surface, work towards increasing energy access in India has been a great success, with more than 750 million people gaining a connection to grid electricity between 2000 and 2019. This means that currently, over 96% of the population of India are now connected and this is an incredible achievement.  However, despite these significant advances in the last decade, the quality of service from the grid supply is unreliable and a large number of homes and businesses in rural areas suffer from intermittent energy supply.

These issues are due to the energy distribution companies experiencing numerous logistical and financial problems and it’s estimated the issue affects more than 100 million people in rural India. According to an article in Forbes, ensuring the electricity being provided is of a high enough quality remains a critical challenge for India’s economic expansion, without blackouts, brownouts or other disruptions to service.

So clearly, connection to the grid isn’t enough for many people in India to access reliable energy, and this is where access to distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, provide critical benefits including increased reliability for households and businesses customers. 

The other key issue with India’s energy supply is its reliance on coal and gas. India is the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and the rate of growth of India’s oil consumption is expected to surpass that of China by the mid-2020s. In fact, due to the increasing use of electronic appliances and cooling needs, it’s estimated that India’s energy usage could potentially triple by 2040.

So that’s a whole lot more energy to be generated and if this continues to come primarily from fossil fuels, it spells disaster for action against climate change. In order for India to progress towards SDG7 (clean and reliable energy access for all), the country needs to significantly increase its renewable energy capacity in the coming decade.

As is the case in rural Africa, a solution to India’s energy problems lies in solar energy access. By enabling more homes and businesses in rural India to own their own solar energy kits, we can help them reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and provide a more affordable, reliable and higher quality energy supply than is offered by the Indian grid. 

And with investors in our new candi bond, targeting returns of 5.75%, it’s a great way to put your money to work tackling climate change by financing and installing two 700 KW solar systems for Small to Medium-Sized businesses in India, while potentially earning an attractive return for investors. We call that a win/win/win situation!

Please note that, with investments such as this, your capital is at risk and returns are not guaranteed.