Solar villages for sustainable development

"Solar Village" project has been designed to use clean energy technologies to empower rural communities to accelerate their social development and poverty reduction. This project started with a Higher Education (HE) - Link programme funded by the DFID (Department For International Development - UK), managed by the British Council and co-ordinated by the author. The HE-Link programme continued for about eight years in the 1990s, while the solar village was designed, piloted in September 2008 in Sri Lanka and monitored for four years. The project is now entering the replication phase within and outside Sri Lanka. This article presents the concept behind the project, activities taking place in the pilot village, its impacts and advantages for the whole society and current replication plans. This project can be modified to suit any community according to their social requirements, geography and the climate.