STS Forum 2016

1. SOLAR ENERGY STRATEGYFOR SRI LANKA:
THE SOLAR VILLAGE SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENTAND POVERTYREDUCTION
I M DHARMADASA
SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY
UNITED KINGDOM.
Summary:
 Current Status of Solar Energy
 Solar Energy Strategy For Sri Lanka
 Solar Villages For Sustainable
Development & Reduction of Poverty
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2. PV SOLAR ENERGY STATUS
TODAY
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3. SOLAR ENERGY STRATEGY FOR
SRI LANKA
IN ORDER TO MOVE TOWARDS
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,
 SRI LANKA SHOULD
DEVELOP A TECHNOLOGY-
MIX USING AVAILABLE
INDIGENOUS ENERGY
SOURCES (SOLAR, WIND,
BIO-MASS ETC.), AND
 REDUCE THE USE OF
IMPORTED FOSSIL FUELS.
SOLAR ENERGY IS AT THE TOP
OF THIS LIST AND FOLLOWING
FIVE AREAS ARE CRUCIAL.
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4. 1. USE "SOLAR HOME SYSTEMS" FOR HOUSE-
HOLDS NOT CONNECTED TO THE NATIONAL GRID
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 100% electrification using the National Grid (NG) is economically not viable.
 Therefore, SH Systems should be used to help the poorest community
in the country.

5. 2. ESTABLISH "SOLAR VILLAGES" IN SRI LANKA
TO DEVELOP EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY
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 ~80% of Sri Lankan population live in villages
 Therefore "Empower" them to develop themselves via "Solar Villages"
 The main subject of this presentation is "Solar Villages".

6. 3. INTRODUCE "SOLAR ROOFS" EVERYWHERE
POSSIBLE TO FEED THE NATIONAL GRID
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 Introduce Solar Roofs for middle income families and
connect to the NG via net metering
 Pay for excess energy produced & fed to the grid, and
un-lock people's personal savings for this purpose
 The recent announcement on Solar Roofs by the P&E
Ministry is moving in the right direction.

7. 4. DEVELOP LARGE "SOLAR FARMS" OF 10, 50, 100
MW SIZE AND CONNECT TO THE NG
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 Avoid covering fertile lands
 Covering arid lands like Mannar Island will enable production of electricity,
and allow cultivation of the shaded land (eg: Gobi Desert Project)
5. BUILD CAPACITY THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND
ESTABLISH SOLAR PANEL MANUFACTURING IN SRI LANKA

8. 8
SOLAR POWER to VILLAGE POWER
(Design Stage During a HE-Link Program in the 1990s)

9. 9
Solar Water Pumping System of The "Pilot Solar Village"
Opened in September 2008

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11. 11
To empower rural communities by introducing clean
energy technologies, and guide them to escape from
poverty traps
To improve water & food security in deprived
communities, while up-lifting their living standards
To find solutions to climate change, improve
environment and reduce the burning of fossil fuel
To take new technologies from laboratory to the
society for sustainable development.
SOLAR VILLAGE: Aims & objectives

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SOLAR VILLAGE: Activities Taking Place
With the guidance from project
initiators, village community
involves in various projects such
as:
Tree planting
Organic farming
Bee keeping
Improvement of the Village
School, Temple, Nursery and the
Library
13 out of 17 SDGs are embedded
in this project.

13. SOLAR VILLAGE: Activities Taking Place
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SOLAR VILLAGE: Main Impacts
 The village school ear-marked for closure in 2007, after applying Solar
Village ideas, has Electricity, Free running water, Few computers and the
student number increased from ~20 to 85
 The same school now ranking 4th out of 255 primary schools in the region,
with added new building
 The environment of the school has improved tremendously, and teachers do
not want to leave the school
 Village Temple shows rapid development and all house-holds show rapid
economic development.

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SOLAR VILLAGES: Replication Plans
Several Solar Villages
will be established
with funding from
Charitable Organisations.
APSL-UK 2 or 3 Villages
Helasarana 2 Villages
Personal funds 1 Village
We hope, when the Professionals Design, Pilot, Monitor and Start Replication
of successful projects like these, the Local Governments will notice and widely
establish these types of projects for sustainable development. Interested Groups
are working to start similar projects in Malaysia & Nigeria at present.

16. Harvesting the Sun
To
Save the Planet,
Help the Poor and
Secure our Future
Thank You
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