rural electrficiation

News in Brief: Vivint Solar is taking advantage of Rhode Island's optimal residential solar conditions and expanding into the state, BBOX and Aeris are partnering to provide plug-and-play solar systems with IoT connectivity in East and Central Africa, Sri Lankan energy ministers are allocating funding to install solar systems in selected public buildings and India's Space Research Organisation has developed a new solar app for Android.

India has sanctioned the benchmark costs for grid-connected rooftop and small-scale solar PV plants for 2017/18, according to a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) release.

In an unprecedented move, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has pushed through a rural electrification regulation. Andre Susanto, senior vice president and founder, PT Inovasi Dinamika Pratama, discusses how this regulation provides an opportunity for the private sector to engage in electrifying Indonesia's 12,000 villages currently without any access to electricity.

Abu Dhabi’s leading renewable energy firm Masdar has completed eight new solar PV projects in rural communities in Mauritania, doubling the amount of clean power provided to the Islamic Republic nation and powering some 39,000 homes.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited comments from stakeholders on its draft ‘National Policy for Renewable Energy based Micro and Mini Grids’.

The Indian government is promoting small-scale solar and wind hybrid systems (SWES) in rural areas without electricity through a new programme following the success of similar projects in the US and Europe.