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Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS) Ltd, who were runners-up for the Light Award, run a hugely successful micro credit scheme to enable Sri Lanka's rural poor to benefit from solar electricity. To date it has overseen the installation of around 51,000 solar home systems (out of a total of 71,000 in the country). On a much smaller scale, it has also financed 13 village level micro-hydro schemes.
As the economic arm of Sarvodaya (one of Sri Lanka's leading rural development NGOs), SEEDS is financing the installation of solar home systems (SHS) across Sri Lanka. It is doing so as part of a World Bank-supported solar electrification scheme,
which is due to end shortly, but SEEDS are confident that there is both sufficient demand and financing in place for the business model to continue.
The typical SHS consists of a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel, mounted on the house roof. Depending on its size, this provides between 40W and 75W of electricity in full sunlight (the most common...