PERSPECTIVE

Over the past 5 years, SELCO foundation piloted and scaled numerous livelihood-based interventions for the poor using sustainable energy. These interventions encompass technology innovations, efficiency of appliances, new financial products and catalyzing market channels for the poor. A typical livelihood solution is often approached as a suite of options for new and existing entrepreneurs, cooperatives or hybrid ownership models, within various context which include, un-electrified, under-electrified and electrified scenarios. In each of the scenarios, financial savings, removal of drudgery, enhanced productivity and time efficiency lead to better income and opportunities and sustainable growth for rural and tribal livelihoods. The need of the hour is to catalyse and enhancing these missing ecosystem factors in order to demonstrate the linkage between sustainable energy and development, this, demonstrating the capability of decentralised energy to transform communities.

SELCO Foundation has developed over 50 livelihood technologies and over 100 processes across these livelihood technologies, and over 100 processes across these livelihoods around financial and social models. In the past 5 years itself, SELCO has worked with over 1,500 micro-entrepreneurs, out of which 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs have improved access to sustainable energy driven livelihood solutions. In this report, these interventions are documented in a manner that demonstrates how parts of the ecosystem can be pierced together contributing to a more asset-based solution. 

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