Develop sustainable and accessible solar energy production in rural Thailand

Project description

Located on remote forested mountains, the border villages of Thailand-Myanmar are off-grid. Replacement solutions (renting a diesel generator, using candles or kerosene lamps, etc.) result in both short and long-term health and safety risks, are not eco-friendly, and provide low productivity at a high cost.

First and foremost, the Rexel Foundation’s support will allow Sun Sawang to install 100 solar home systems (SHSs) for rural poor households and schools and promote the use of 200 solar lanterns in this region. In a second phase, the association will expand into new target areas and will also recruit, train, and hire local technicians to provide maintenance services.

Objectives

The impact of the association’s initiative is social as well as environmental:

• Improve the living conditions, health, education, economics, and environment of ethnic minority communities.
• Create local employment.

Find out more about Sun Sawang 

The social enterprise Sun Sawang is working to make renewable energy affordable and available to rural communities in Thailand. It operates on two levels: by providing them with solar energy products and services, and by hiring and training local technicians among the villagers to maintain the facilities.

Created in 2013, Sun Sawang offers sustainable access to solar energy to remote border communities for a small fee. The villagers benefit from a five-year warranty for the upkeep and maintenance of the installations.