For the past few months while in Northern Thailand, I've been doing some volunteer work with the Border Green Energy Team (BGET), an organization that installs solar and other clean energy technologies in rural villages and refugee camps along the Thailand-Burma border.
When it comes to electrification, Thailand is in a pretty good place compared to its SE Asian neighbors Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, where only 13%, 24% and 55% of the populations respectively have access to electricity. In Thailand, over 99% of the population has electricity, but this still leaves about half a million people, mostly in remote rural villages, without electricity.
Most of these people use either candles or low quality kerosene lanterns for light. It's a bad deal. Compared to a typical light bulb, candles or kerosene lanterns provide over 100 times lower lighting quality. These low quality light sources are also the leading cause of burns and fires in these areas and cause indoor air pollution problems. Believe it or not, using candles and kerosene lanterns for lighting is also expensive for the amount of light provided, often costing people 10 times more per unit of light compared to what people in wealthy countries like the U.S. pay for grid power. Low quality, unsafe, expensive - just a bad deal all around.
In these rural villages, solar energy is an ideal solution because it's clean, safe, reliable, doesn't require the grid, and with the right type of financing, more affordable than lower quality alternatives. This is especially the case now with plummeting solar technology prices. Better lighting quality will also provide a better study environment for students and increased opportunities to work and earn an income.
In 2004, the Thailand government installed 300,000 solar home systems for the off-grid population in Thailand, but unfortunately, no plan was put in place to follow-up and provide system maintenance. While solar technology is well established and very reliable in the long term (the panels come with 20-year warranties and can operate effectively for 30+ years), like many technologies, maintenance is required every now and again. Inverters need to fixed. Batteries need to be replaced every few years. This is normal, just like getting an oil change for your car a few times a year.
What happened next in Thailand should have been expected. With no post-installation follow-up plan in place, system failures started to occur, not because the panels were broken, but because basic maintenance services were not provided. Now, 7 years later, 80% of these 300,000 solar home systems have stopped working. As you can see in the photo below from a village that we visited, most of these homes have a small solar panel on the roof, but they don't benefit from clean, safe, affordable energy. Good solar technology, not producing energy - there's something wrong with this situation!
That's where BGET comes in. They've developed a plan to turn the lights back on in these rural Thai villages. BGET is working to restore the systems that are no longer in operation by providing new batteries and controllers, and then long-term maintenance services. The villagers will pay BGET over time through a service contract with rates below what they otherwise would have to pay for the lower quality candles and kerosene lanterns. It's a true win-win, and a private sector solution that doesn't rely on unsustainable, short-term government programs.
I recently joined the BGET staff on a trip to deliver some of the new equipment to one of these villages where solar systems are being restored. Check-out more photos below.
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The village was really remote. We drove for over an hour on a dirt road that wasn't really a road and at one point had to drive through a river!
This family is happy because their solar system is working again!
Me with the BGET team on an equipment delivery run
Solar projects in the U.S. don't need batteries because the systems are almost always connected to the grid, so dealing with batteries is new for me. Key takeaway - these things are freakin' heavy (and I had the bruises on my shoulders to prove it)!
Pretty scenes along the drive
When it comes to electrification, Thailand is in a pretty good place compared to its SE Asian neighbors Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, where only 13%, 24% and 55% of the populations respectively have access to electricity. In Thailand, over 99% of the population has electricity, but this still leaves about half a million people, mostly in remote rural villages, without electricity.
Most of these people use either candles or low quality kerosene lanterns for light. It's a bad deal. Compared to a typical light bulb, candles or kerosene lanterns provide over 100 times lower lighting quality. These low quality light sources are also the leading cause of burns and fires in these areas and cause indoor air pollution problems. Believe it or not, using candles and kerosene lanterns for lighting is also expensive for the amount of light provided, often costing people 10 times more per unit of light compared to what people in wealthy countries like the U.S. pay for grid power. Low quality, unsafe, expensive - just a bad deal all around.
In these rural villages, solar energy is an ideal solution because it's clean, safe, reliable, doesn't require the grid, and with the right type of financing, more affordable than lower quality alternatives. This is especially the case now with plummeting solar technology prices. Better lighting quality will also provide a better study environment for students and increased opportunities to work and earn an income.
In 2004, the Thailand government installed 300,000 solar home systems for the off-grid population in Thailand, but unfortunately, no plan was put in place to follow-up and provide system maintenance. While solar technology is well established and very reliable in the long term (the panels come with 20-year warranties and can operate effectively for 30+ years), like many technologies, maintenance is required every now and again. Inverters need to fixed. Batteries need to be replaced every few years. This is normal, just like getting an oil change for your car a few times a year.
What happened next in Thailand should have been expected. With no post-installation follow-up plan in place, system failures started to occur, not because the panels were broken, but because basic maintenance services were not provided. Now, 7 years later, 80% of these 300,000 solar home systems have stopped working. As you can see in the photo below from a village that we visited, most of these homes have a small solar panel on the roof, but they don't benefit from clean, safe, affordable energy. Good solar technology, not producing energy - there's something wrong with this situation!
That's where BGET comes in. They've developed a plan to turn the lights back on in these rural Thai villages. BGET is working to restore the systems that are no longer in operation by providing new batteries and controllers, and then long-term maintenance services. The villagers will pay BGET over time through a service contract with rates below what they otherwise would have to pay for the lower quality candles and kerosene lanterns. It's a true win-win, and a private sector solution that doesn't rely on unsustainable, short-term government programs.
I recently joined the BGET staff on a trip to deliver some of the new equipment to one of these villages where solar systems are being restored. Check-out more photos below.
---
The village was really remote. We drove for over an hour on a dirt road that wasn't really a road and at one point had to drive through a river!
This family is happy because their solar system is working again!
Me with the BGET team on an equipment delivery run
Solar projects in the U.S. don't need batteries because the systems are almost always connected to the grid, so dealing with batteries is new for me. Key takeaway - these things are freakin' heavy (and I had the bruises on my shoulders to prove it)!
Pretty scenes along the drive
What an exceptional education you are experiencing! REMARKABLE!
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