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Communities Become Early Boosters of Roof-Top Solar In India

NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 1, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Solarize Safdarjung and Solarize Karkardooma, innovative and proven residential solar program designed to help homeowners go solar and save on electricity costs, launched today in New Delhi. The intensive “Solarize” campaigns aim to accelerate the adoption of roof-top solar by raising awareness through local community participation and dialogue. And with the participation of high-­‐quality local solar installers, there has never been a better time go solar.

Solarize Safdarjung (https://solarisesafdarjung.wee.green) and Solarize Karkardooma (http://www.solarisekarkardooma.wee.green/) are being launched and supported by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a leading not-for-profit policy research institution based in New Delhi. CEEW is working in close partnership with BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) – the electricity utilities in the city.

The Solarize programs in India are modeled on the highly successful and award-winning Solarize campaigns undertaken in the United States by SmartPower, a US based non-profit organization focused on local community campaigns to increase consumer adoption of clean energy. In the US programs, SmartPower’s Solarize Campaigns have been credited with creating over $100m of installed residential solar in just over a 3-year period of time. SmartPower is a close advisor and architect of the New Delhi Solarize Programs. Further, the Solarize Campaigns in India – as in the US – are also aided by the use of the WeeGreen platform, a one-of-a-kind on-line tool that makes it easy for residents and communities to go solar.

The United States Department of State, the Government of India, through the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Government of New Delhi are all active supporters of Solarize Karkadooma and Solarize Safdarjung.

Adapting to the ‘new normal’ in the wake of Covid-19 is a high priority of these Solarize Campaigns. As such, the entire ‘Solarize Safdurjung’ and ‘Solarize Karkardooma’ programs are “socially distant”, using innovative online tools, including ‘WeeGreen’, a global platform that brings together the residents and vendors at one easy to use on-line portal.

Thus, from reaching-out to the consumers, resolving their questions, organizing their consultations with solar installers and financiers, interactive testimonials from the owners of existing solar roof-top connections, the entire process can be conducted online. The basic idea of the program is to raise awareness and adoption of roof-top solar through community dialogue and interactions.

To encourage adoption of roof-top solar and to drive community engagement, the campaign is adopting innovative concepts like ‘Solar Ambassadors’ and ‘Solar Champions’. Youth is being specifically targeted and reach-out to in the online campaign as ‘influencers. Though the program is primarily targeted at the domestic consumer and residential societies, commercial and institutional consumers can also participate in the initiative.

The ‘Solarize’ initiative aims to maximize the utilization of solar roof top potential in a targeted area. The program’s objective is to create a market-based approach for scaling-up roof-top solar and introduce utility-led community-based demand aggregation for deployment. In the first phase, the campaign will aggressively promote the adoption of roof-top solar in Safdurjung and Karkardooma areas as part of ‘Solarize Safdarjung’ and ‘Solarize Karkardooma’. Subsequently, the partners anticipate that the program will also be launched for other utility areas. Part of the uniqueness of Solarize Campaigns is that it works within existing organizations and communities – bringing together social circles to encourage solar purchases. In the US, working peer-to-peer, friend-to-friend and neighbor-to-neighbor, Solarize Campaigns have proven to increase solar installations by an average of 1000%.

“Almost ten years ago, we launched our first Solarize Campaign in a small town called Durham, Connecticut,” said Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower. “And now, not only do we have communities across the United States Solarizing at a record pace, but we are now launching Solarize in New Delhi. In a time of worldwide uncertainly and pandemic, it’s indeed exciting that the US and India can work together to bring Solar to communities everywhere.”

“India has made rapid strides in advancing solar energy, but this campaign marks an important move towards including residential consumers in driving the adoption of rooftop solar.,” said Kanika Chawla, Director, Centre for Energy Finance (CEF) at CEEW. “With BYPL BRPL, the RWAs, community organisers, and the support of MNRE, India’s clean energy future just became more inclusive. Let’s Solarise!”

“Connecting people is what WeeGreen does best,” said Antonia “Toni” Bouchard, President of WeeGreen. “We’ve been building the solar and energy efficiency markets in the US. And now bringing communities together in India to build the solar market with our WeeGreen platform is not simply an indication of WeeGreen’s success, but a reminder to all of us that working together, we can all be part of the solar solution.”

About SmartPower:

SmartPower is an award-­‐winning nonprofit organization that works on behalf of municipalities, utilities, businesses, foundations, state agencies and the federal government to turbo-­‐charge energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts. Through innovative on-­‐ the-­‐ground campaigns and challenges, SmartPower is able to create measurable results and save energy. www.smartpower.org

About CEEW:
The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is one of Asia’s leading not-for-profit policy research institutions. The Council uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain – and change – the use, reuse, and misuse of resources. It prides itself on the independence of its high-quality research, develops partnerships with public and private institutions, and engages with wider public. In 2020, CEEW once again featured extensively across nine categories in the 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. The Council has also been consistently ranked among the world’s top climate change think tanks. Follow us on Twitter @CEEWIndia for the latest updates.

About BRPL & BYPL:

BRPL & BYPL are premier power distribution companies and Joint Ventures between Reliance Infrastructure Limited and GoNCTD.

About WeeGreen:

WeeGreen is an E-commerce platform for the green lifestyle. This software as a service (SaaS) company mobilizes utility customers, businesses, communities, colleges and others who seek to achieve their sustainability goals. Uniquely designed for the post-Covid-19 “socially distant” grassroots outreach that today’s consumers demand. http://www.wee.green
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Brian F. Keane
SmartPower
+1 202-674-7509
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