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The idea of a solar village is one that’s breathed imagination and innovation into countless communities around the world. Whether it’s state-of-the-art solar design or powering a tribal village in Africa, solar technology is demonstrating that we can replace unsustainable energy systems with viable solar alternatives and be more successful because of it. To illustrate, we’ve highlighted five solar village projects showing how solar technology is uniquely transforming communities around the world.

The birth of Freiberg’s solar village began in the 1970’s when residents of the area protested new nuclear power facility and won. The community in this rural area of Germany wanted a better energy alternative, and if we need to look to an example of grassroots energy change, this is it. The city of Freiberg itself became home to Europe’s first solar research institute, and home to solar architect Rolf Disch’s vision — the Schlierber Solar Settlement, which was completed between 2004-2006. This solar village, which is also a car-fee zone, is comprised of 59 solar-roofed PlusEnergy (they create more energy than they use) homes and one large solar roofed commercial building called the SunShip. Together they generate approximately 420,000 kWh of solar energy per year. This was the first PlusEnergy project in the world and it runs successfully today as it was envisioned — an alternative energy, environmentally friendly community. Based on the outstanding success of this original PlusEnergy Solar Village, this core solar idea continues to be implemented in community planning today.

Ota City is the site of a residential solar experiment that was conducted by the government of Japan. Standard crystalline PV solar panels were provided to 553 homes at no cost in a section of Ota City dubbed Pal Town Josai-no-Mori. The homes' combined electrical capacity is 2,310 kW. This grid-connected solar study started in 2004 and was completed in March 2010. This project has provided insight on overall energy generation capabilities of such a community in terms of how to avoid blackouts, addressing grid connection issues and self-sufficiency. Net-metering was also installed, which allows residents to trade electricity back to TEPCO (Japan’s major utility company) for a set tariff. It was a somewhat revolutionary idea in Japan at the time, but today the concept of renewable energy is welcomed by Japan in response to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, which was caused by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Japan, heavily reliant on nuclear energy, is now looking to safer and more sustainable power solutions like solar energy. It seems Ota City may have given them a head start.

With close to 2 billion people on the planet without access to electricity, UNESCO’s Solar Village Program is one of many such programs that is working to meet this need, often in the poorest regions of the world. In the African country of Swaziland in a community called Mphaphati, solar technology was introduced by the Solar Village Programme in cooperation with the government of Swaziland in 1998. The community is located about 6 km away from the nearest power grid, and there were no plans to extend the power grid to reach their area. With the help of the UNESCO, Mphaphati is now powered by electricity created from solar panels which brings power to their elementary school, a grocery store, homes and a community vegetable garden. Power provided by solar panels has allowed this village to enjoy indoor lighting and outdoor night lighting, radio and TV for educational purposes, and a solar PV water pump for the garden. Mphaphati also has its first community payphone thanks to solar energy. The introduction of solar technology in Mphaphati has improved quality of life for residents, with little infringement on the lifestyle of their tribal culture.

Brad Pitt considers architecture his passion and it may surprise you to learn that he teamed up with California-based architect company Graft to develop an imaginative and bold solar project based in Dubai, UAE, being called the Vertical Solar Village. Now under construction this LEED project will include residential homes, a hotel and entertainment facilities, all mounted with solar panels. Located in a hot and dry desert, the buildings are being positioned to reduce the heat from sun exposure, and solar collectors will be on the south side of buildings to maximize sunlight capture. Solar energy will service electrical power, hot water production and air conditioning. Judging by this artist’s rendering, solar power’s full capacity has been considered carefully in the overall Vertical Village design within its’ desert environment. When will it be finished — that’s under wraps it seems.

India as a country has expanded the idea of solar energy in rural areas with great success. Literally 100s of villages across India are powered or lit by solar energy, thanks largely to the concept of micro-financing. To provide a succinct example of how solar is transformation rural India, we can look to a small village in southern Orissa province called New Keringa. Through joint efforts of D.light, a US Solar Non-profit, and an Orissa NGO called SOVA, solar technology means New Keringa can claim being a 100 percent solar village. Introducing solar to this community meant workers earnings increased dramatically because they could work at night. Prior to solar energy, New Keringa residents were using Kerosene for light, which for them was costly and required they commute to acquire it. D.light created a series of low cost solar powered LED lights expressly for communities like New Keringa that rely on kerosene, which is known to cause respiratory problems. Today all of New Keringa is lit by D.lights LEDs that provide up to 40 hours of light on a single charge. New Keringa is home to around 50 families, so it’s a village in the truest sense, and one that has come to value what solar energy means in their lives. For many parts of India and Africa solar energy is a social-enterprise, one that not only brings light and electricity but that helps families increase their livelihoods.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/04/5-solar-village-projects

Five Solar Village Projects Transforming Communities Worldwide