The Impact of Micro-Scale Solar Power Supply for Rural Households, in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Electricity is one of the basic necessities of people. The provision of micro-scale solar electricity in remote areas is needed to increase public access to electricity as a way of improving the capacity of household members. The aim of this community engagement program is to increase the electricity access of agricultural households as a means of providing financial, economic, and sociocultural benefits to farmer communities. Theoretical background. Based on the theoretical concepts (Zhu, 2011), the community engagement must be tailored to the population interest and community-based organizations must be involved in any engagement initiative. There are six major components of a community engagement, which are collaboration, accessibility, accountability, education, principles, and organizational capacity. Methods. This program was carried out in the Central Kalimantan village of Kampung Baru in Katingan Kuala, Katingan, which was chosen based on its potential to be developed as a food-crop producing region amidst its adverse characteristics (no electricity, a remote area, no land vehicles, and a population living in poverty). The community engagement activities conducted under this program covered observations, village-consultation approaches, participatory education, participatory rural appraisal, and interviews. Transfer of knowledge to mobilize and organize the community was carried out through adult education, learning through a hands-on approach, and on-site training. The beneficiaries were selected from poor families adjudged in part based on the poor condition or habitability of the house and with school-age children in the household. Results and discussion. Around 96% of rural households were found to have food-crop farming livelihoods with only 29% of them having another business. This program’ selected 43 households (HHs) and two Muslim praying rooms. Based on the beneficiaries’ survey responses, 98% were “very happy” while 2% were “quite happy” with this program. A total of 86% of households could expand their respective businesses. The average financial benefits amounted to an estimated 2.72 million rupiah per month, and the socio-cultural benefits impacted 96% of the children in the form of increased diligence to learn owing to having acquired greater free time at night. Conclusion. The empowerment program in the form of the provision of micro-scale solar electricity lighting resulted in positive socio-economic impact on the beneficiaries due to savings in electricity costs that even led to additional businesses for some of the beneficiaries, and children’s increased diligence in learning especially at the night.