Solar mamas to light up China's remote villages

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Senior women from rural China will soon become solar engineers to ensure an uninterrupted supply of renewable energy to their villages.

Rajasthan-based Barefoot College is collaborating with the Indian government and a Chinese organization, to select four grandmothers from non-electrified villages in China. After the selection, these women will be provided with technical skills for solar panel repair, installation and maintenance.

Sanjit Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot College, told CGTN that the installation and maintenance of solar panels in rural areas is a considerable challenge in developing countries.

A technical snag in solar panels, batteries, circuits or lamps installed in rural areas can result in delays or extended wait times for a technician to arrive. To make it handy, Barefoot College started the concept of solar mamas.

The college selects senior illiterate or semi-illiterate women from a backward village to provide the technical training. Lessons and instructions for repairing and installing solar panels are taught in sign languages to overcome the literacy and language barriers.

Initially, the college selected rural women from African countries, and after providing them technical skills, they were sent back to their villages.

Solar mamas undergoing training at Barefoot College in Rajsthan. /UN Women Photo

Such training has been given to nearly 135 women from Ethiopia, Gambia, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Gambia. These women became popularly known as solar mamas.

The government of Sierra Leone was so impressed by the work of solar mamas that they decided to provide a modest building to Barefoot College, which became a center for solar mamas to transfer their technical skills about solar electrification to villagers from far off counties.

“These women who can barely write their names are successfully helping in lighting up their villages in African countries. We are planning a similar 'solar mama' initiative in China that is using solar energy on a mass scale,” Roy added.

Last year, China's solar energy generation doubled, and the country became the largest producer of renewable energy. China produced 77.42 gigawatts at the end of 2016, with the addition of 34.54 gigawatts of solar power.

In recent years, rural women from Middle East countries were also given similar training.

Community model for solar energy

Barefoot College is collaborating with Beijing Longyuan Technology company to select four grandmothers from non-electrified villages. These grandmothers will travel to Rajasthan for six months of training and learn how to repair and maintain solar panels.

“We are in the process of selecting villages, and in the next phase, we will select grandmothers who are interested in the training,” Holly Shi from Beijing Longyuan Technology said. “We are excited about the whole project.”

Both organizations are keen on ensuring community participation for the project. They have come to the understanding that villagers would need to agree to pay for the services from solar mamas.

The village would also decide to donate a two-room building or hut for Rural Electric Work (REW) for carrying out anything from minor to major repairs of solar equipment.

“These terms are crucial to ensure sustenance and dignity of solar mamas and create robust community participation,” Roy said.

Training is only for women

Barefoot College authorities have refused to select any elderly male or grandfathers for the project. They maintain that in almost all the developing economies, men migrate on a large scale to earn money through their technical skills.

On the contrary, women stay back in villages and need an opportunity to earn.

“So far, our experience with senior solar mama has been very fruitful. We have witnessed that men after getting such training pester us to issue a certificate so that they can find a job in cities,” Roy added.