Community-owned solar mini-grids (SMGs) are increasingly promoted to provide communities access to reliable electricity, empowering local actors as they become active stakeholders in projects. However, early failures and difficulties in building local capacity have raised questions regarding their long-term sustainability and ability to be replicated to provide socio-economic benefits to the communities. This study assesses the sustainability of 24 community-owned SMGs in India operating over extensive periods of time using a novel scoring framework using mixed methods to derive its conclusions. The study found that institutional, financial, and technical capacities, central for the SMG’s long-term sustainability, could be achieved through community engagement from early stages, if communities are allowed freedom to develop governance procedures while at the same time clarifying roles and responsibilities. This creates strong sense of ownership that is key for effective and inclusive governance. User satisfaction, ensured through provision of usable supply in line with users’ expectations, motivates actors to make regular payments, thus leading to economic sustenance. While social and environmental benefits were observed, energy consumption and engagement in productive activities remained marginal. The study reports an example of community-owned SMG model that has been replicated sustainably over many cases, overcoming key challenges related to appropriate financial and technical management and producing positive social impact. Low engagement in productive activities was more a factor of the local socio-cultural contexts, rather than limited paying capacities of the users. To increase energy utilization and create environments for sustainable rural living, the study recommends implementation of systems that link energy with other rural development needs such as agriculture or water provision. The study also recommends more use of qualitative and quantitative data for impact analysis to ensure that conclusions are generalizable and provide rich contextual explanations for the observed phenomena.

中文翻译：

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社区所有小电网的可持续性：来自印度的证据

越来越多的社区拥有的太阳能微型电网（SMG）得以推广，以使社区能够获得可靠的电力，并在当地参与者成为项目的积极利益相关者时赋予他们权力。但是，早期的失败和地方能力建设的困难使人们对其长期的可持续性和被复制以为社区提供社会经济利益的能力提出了疑问。这项研究使用混合方法得出其结论的新型评分框架，评估了印度24个在很长一段时间内运营的社区SMG的可持续性。该研究发现，对于SMG的长期可持续发展至关重要的机构，财务和技术能力可以通过早期阶段的社区参与来实现，是否允许社区自由制定治理程序，同时明确角色和责任。这会产生强烈的主人翁意识，这是有效和包容性治理的关键。通过提供符合用户期望的可用供应量来确保用户满意度，这会激励参与者定期付款，从而带来经济上的支撑。在观察到社会和环境效益的同时，能源消耗和参与生产活动仍然微不足道。该研究报告了一个社区拥有的SMG模型的示例，该模型已在许多情况下得以持续复制，克服了与适当的财务和技术管理相关的关键挑战，并产生了积极的社会影响。对生产活动的参与度较低是当地社会文化背景的一个因素，而不是限制用户的支付能力。为了提高能源利用率并为可持续的农村生活创造环境，该研究建议实施将能源与农业或供水等其他农村发展需求联系起来的系统。该研究还建议更多地使用定性和定量数据进行影响分析，以确保结论具有可概括性，并为观察到的现象提供了丰富的背景说明。