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This briefing by the India Innovation Lab for Green Finance analyzes the Solar Investment Trust (SEIT), a proposed dividend-yielding instrument designed to lower the cost of capital for industrial and commercial rooftop solar developers in India. The SEIT would be structured as an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) under SEBI guidelines, allowing developers to monetize existing assets and attract institutional investors. While the instrument could potentially mobilize USD 1 billion for the rooftop solar sector within five years, current SEBI requirements regarding asset scale and leverage ratios present significant barriers to immediate implementation for most developers.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) proposes a new financial vehicle called the Clean Energy Investment Trust (CEIT) to reduce the cost of renewable energy by better aligning project cashflows with the risk profiles of different investors. By unbundling the cashflows of wind and solar projects and targeting long-term, liability-hedging institutional investors, the authors argue that the cost of wind-generated electricity could be reduced by 15-17% compared to traditional utility financing.

This policy brief examines the kerosene subsidy system in India, highlighting its financial costs, systemic inefficiencies, and the barriers it creates for the adoption of off-grid solar lighting. The authors argue that reforming these subsidies is essential to transition rural households toward cleaner energy alternatives.

This research paper documents the deployment of solar energy in Sarda, a remote village in Odisha, India, highlighting how its location in a dense forest hinders market linkages and access to electricity and basic services.

This RMI report outlines the investment potential and financing frameworks for community-scale solar (CSS) in the United States, estimating a market opportunity of up to $16.3 billion by 2020. It details the benefits of CSS—such as lower costs and flexible customer arrangements—while analyzing various finance structures, including tax equity, debt, and innovative tools like New Markets Tax Credits. The document provides a risk management framework to address customer acquisition, subscription volatility, and regulatory uncertainty, aiming to help developers and investors standardize models to accelerate market growth.

This World Resources Institute fact sheet provides data on employment growth within the United States clean energy economy, focusing on solar, wind, energy efficiency, and alternative fuel vehicle sectors as of early 2016 and 2017.

A statement from the World Resources Institute urging Rick Perry, during his nomination for Secretary of Energy, to prioritize clean energy and technology to drive U.S. economic growth and emissions reductions.

This research paper section provides a detailed breakdown of climate finance flows to Kiribati between 2010 and 2014, detailing the amounts, sources, and sectoral allocations of grant-equivalent finance.

The East Africa Crowdfunding Landscape Study, published by FSD Africa in October 2016, analyzes the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending ecosystems in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, comparing them with more mature markets in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The report finds that while the region is experiencing rapid growth, it is primarily driven by international donation and concessionary lending platforms from the global North, rather than native equity or for-profit lending models, which are hindered by regulatory uncertainty and a lack of investment-ready MSMEs.

This case study describes EarthSpark International's implementation of a solar-powered microgrid in Les Anglais, Haiti, to provide reliable 24-hour electricity. It details the technical, logistical, and regulatory challenges overcome during the project, the development of the SparkMeter billing system, and the resulting economic benefits for local residents and businesses.

This commentary argues that Sri Lanka should shift its energy investment from coal to a national solar energy program, drawing on the policy framework of the India Solar Mission 2022 to promote green growth and sustainable development.

This document consists of two appendices from a report on energy planning in Migori County, Kenya. Appendix A is a comprehensive survey questionnaire designed to collect data on household characteristics, energy sources, electricity usage, cooking habits, health impacts, and community participation. Appendix B outlines potential avenues for citizen participation in energy planning, categorizing activities and previous experiences for women's groups, youth groups, community leaders, and administration.

This briefing by RMI argues that decentralized solar energy is the most viable path to providing electricity access to the 1.3 billion people currently without it, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa and India, while avoiding a projected 141-percent increase in carbon emissions by 2040 that would result from coal-fired power plants.

This case study describes Climate Investor One, an investment initiative proposed by the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) to accelerate renewable energy projects in developing countries by integrating development, construction, and refinancing facilities.

This case study describes the efforts of Granma province in Cuba to become a 100-percent renewably powered model for the rest of the country. As of 2013, the province had implemented a diverse array of renewable energy systems, including solar PV, mini-hydropower, wind-powered water pumps, and biomass energy from sugar mill waste and biodigestors.

This research paper argues that using land for bioenergy creates intense competition with food, feed, and carbon storage, potentially widening the global crop calorie gap. The authors contend that most bioenergy is land-inefficient compared to solar energy and that current greenhouse gas accounting often 'double counts' biomass, erroneously suggesting that bioenergy is carbon-free. The paper recommends phasing out bioenergy from dedicated land use and prioritizing biomass derived from true wastes.

This policy brief examines the political economy of low carbon energy in Kenya, exploring how national energy security goals align with renewable energy technologies to address energy price volatility and climate vulnerability, while noting the potential complicating influence of recent oil and gas discoveries.

This report, part of a series on green industrial policy (GIP), examines the wind and solar sectors in India to provide research for developing cost-effective policies for green industries.

This case study describes the 'Lighting a Billion Lives' (LaBL) initiative by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which aims to replace kerosene-based lighting with solar alternatives in un-electrified or poorly electrified rural areas through an entrepreneurial delivery model.

A research paper by Bill St. Arnaud exploring ICT-based adaptation solutions for climate change, including the potential of 'Green clouds' and the 'Energy Internet', as well as the feasibility of solar-powered electric cookers in rural Kenya.