A Spoonful of Solar to Help the Medicine go Down

Given the wide adoption of decentralized solar energy systems in rural health facilities, this report explores the role of decentralized solar energy interventions in rural health facilities and its linkages to provisioning of health care services, especially for underserved populations. It reviews current decentralized energy interventions across multiple Indian states under different financing, ownership, and operating modes and attempts to understand the lacunae that certain implementation models face in terms of scalability and what conditions are essential to ensure the sustainability of decentralized renewable energy (DRE) systems in rural health facilities in the long run. The report is a culmination of extensive literature review, in-person interviews, field visits to the health facilities, as well as our own experience in supporting development partners to implement decentralized solar energy solutions in India. We studied 22 health facilities that are being powered by decentralized solar energy systems in rural parts of six Indian states—i.e., Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Odisha.

This report is part of WRI India’s Energy for Development Initiative, which looks at supporting governments and local institutions in development sectors to ensure reliable, affordable, and sustainable access to electricity for rural and underserved areas