The KOPPESDA Foundation, a Honnold Foundation Spring 2020 Core Partner, improves farmers’ livelihoods on Sumba Island, Indonesia. KOPPESDA, Sumba Sustainable Solutions, and the Honnold Foundation have partnered to bring solar energy and upcycled battery storage systems to homes, health care providers, and schools. 

We caught up with Dr. Sarah Hobgen, co-founder of Sumba Sustainable Solutions, to learn about why it’s so hard to hand out “free stuff” and how KOPPESDA changed course to build a scalable solar-powered economy.

 

In the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, over 600,000 households rely exclusively on kerosene, candles, and diesel for power and light. Twenty-three percent live below the poverty line— just US$17 a month per household. The KOPPESDA Foundation works with rural communities on Sumba Island, the southernmost island in East Nusa Tenggara, where poverty rates are even higher. 

 

For over 20 years, KOPPESDA has helped rural communities on Sumba Island improve livelihoods and reduce environmental impact. Over that time, KOPPESDA and other local organizations have tried to increase solar energy access, without much success. Modest government and private grants have funded small, “free” solar installations, but the community was slow to embrace new technology. In rural, tight-knit communities governed by personal relationships and handshake agreements instead of paper contracts, it’s difficult to “give away” solar panels while also supporting long term adoption and the community’s sustainable growth.  

Sarah Hobgen has spent the last 10 years living and working in rural Indonesia as a researcher and capacity-building expert, and when she got involved with KOPPESDA’s work, she realized that “free” doesn’t necessarily mean practical or scalable. 

Imagine being a farmer with little to no technical training who has been offered a “free” solar energy system. The only catch? You have to pay for the panels’ installation, sign a complex contract, you may owe a utility company extra monthly fees, and you’ll also need to manage the upkeep yourself with no training. The panels are older models, are unreliable, and have no battery storage capacity, so at night you do what you’ve always done: light a candle or power up your costly diesel generator. Sooner than later, you’ll stop paying the utility company. Not too long after, that solar system ends up in a landfill. During her time in Indonesia, Sarah has seen this history repeat itself more than once. 

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“In the past, there was no trust, little accountability, and no stable, continuous economic improvement. The panels would just go to waste as soon as there was a technical failure,” says Sarah. “In order to really improve electricity and access to services, people need to feel like they’re invested in the service.”

In 2019, KOPPESDA launched a partnership with local solar company Sumba Sustainable Solutions to reimagine what Sumba Island’s future as a solar-powered, scalable economy. After brainstorming with the leadership teams, the majority of whom are from Sumba Island, they settled on an affordable social-enterprise model.

Gone are the days of zero accountability. Panels and batteries are newly manufactured, have an expected lifespan of over 20 years, and are all sold with a warranty. These panels are designed to stay on homes, medical centers, and small businesses, and out of the local landfill. 

With the help of the Honnold Foundation, over 1,500 people now have access to electricity, and moving forward, an estimated 100 people per year will be added to KOPPESDA’s growing list of clients. In a region where most of the community grew up relying on candlelight, the impact has been huge.

“Life is busy… in rural villages,” Sarah says. “Collecting firewood, collecting water from the river, cooking on an open fire, boiling all of the drinking water, manually processing crops and farming for food, just as their ancestors have done for hundreds of years— all of it takes time. By supplying them with quality solar lighting and mobile device charging we are adding four hours to their evening when they can weave cloth or palm mats or just take some time to keep in touch with family on the phone.”  

KOPPESDA is making stable, long term investments in the Sumbanese peoples’ future. Make a gift today to power a sustainable clean-energy economy for Indonesia and other Honnold Foundation Partners around the world.