The People’s Urban Living Lab (PULL) at Transitions Research began a partnership last year with the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Goa’s nodal agency for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). This partnership between PULL and GEDA aims to drive rooftop solar adoption in Goa. As part of this work, this June we organised a series of events in Panaji to engage the community, unite stakeholders across sectors, and identify opportunities to drive rooftop solar.

Our work began last summer with extensive on-ground research into market-side and demand-side barriers and enablers to rooftop solar adoption by the residential and commercial sectors in Goa. (Keep your eye out for a report on our overall approach to behavioural research as the first step in driving meaningful and sustained on-ground transitions.) 

Our research found that the main barriers are knowledge gaps around key topics, including subsidies, cost savings, and the time needed to recover one’s investment; the type of systems and panels best suited to a given consumer; and the fact that most vendors – who are, understandably, engaged primarily with site visits related to assessments, installations, and maintenance – seem to place a low priority on educating members of the general public who are exploring, but have not yet committed to, buying solar.

Conversely, the main enablers to solar adoption that our research found include pro-environmental concern; high post-purchase satisfaction with the installation experience and savings on power bills (which frequently leads to, for instance, a business person who installed solar at his workplace, via a central directive, going on to install solar at his other businesses, and then at his home); and word-of-mouth, which serves as the primary means of diffusion, via satisfied consumers promoting solar in their social networks. Solar pioneers were key to diffusion in several neighbourhoods we surveyed.

Sharing our own insights, and eliciting perspectives from the community, were two of the goals for the events we organised around rooftop solar in Panaji this June. Other goals included bringing together diverse stakeholders to share expertise and perspectives about this quickly evolving field; offering a platform for the sharing of questions, concerns, and suggestions; and offering stakeholders the chance to brainstorm, network, and collaborate. Given the complexities around financing and around rooftop solar itself, it was important that we organise both single-stakeholder events for in-depth sharing and discussion, as well as multi-stakeholder events to allow cross-sector dialogue, troubleshooting, and collaboration.

PULL’s Amita Basu sharing insights from our field research at the Solar Simplified Pecha Kucha event.

For our first solar event this June, PULL’s Sushant Figueiredo conducted a session at the Rotary Club of Panaji. Statewide, various chapters of the Rotary Club have already taken the initiative to promote solar, with vendors regularly invited to address Club members on this subject. In this context, Mr. Figueiredo explained key concepts such as net metering, subsidies, and other financing schemes. He offered a cost-benefit analysis and an overview of the types of panels suitable for home owners and business owners. Questions from the audience included the consumer’s role in the documentation process during installation, the timeline of subsidies, payback periods and financial viability, on-ground challenges, and the safe disposal of defunct panels. 

Next, we organised an informal, Pecha Kucha-style event geared to homeowners. PULL’s Amita Basu shared insights from our field research. Next, Mohan Waghle, Treasurer of the Residents Welfare Association of Vision Royale in Merces, discussed how this housing society had financed solar panels. Mr. Waghle offered insights into overcoming some inertia from fellow residents, effective ways of framing the costs and savings of solar to foster adoption, and the society’s (mostly positive) experiences with technical issues and support from the vendor. Finally, as a solar-owning homeowner based in Goa, PULL’s Mr. Figueiredo shared insights as a consumer including costs, savings on power bills, and data from his solar output monitor. Concrete visualisations of output over the course of a year helped assuage attending residents’ concerns, for instance, the widespread myth that, during the monsoon, output falls to zero. Our Pecha Kucha event, organised at Cafe Fika in Panaji, allowed residents to share questions, experiences, and suggestions in a chatty setting over coffee.

Speakers at the Rooftop Solar Conference from left to right: Sushant Figueiredo, Transitions Research; Ms. Saina Shirodkar, GEDA; Mr. Anish Sousa, founder and CEO of Sun 360; Mr. Carlton Forbes, RTS User; Mr. Adi Pindole, RTS User. 

Our final solar event in June was a half-day conference organised at the International Centre, Goa. Here, we brought together diverse stakeholders for cross-sectoral dialogue, troubleshooting, and ideating. This conference brought together representatives from government departments, residents and business owners, organisations like Lions Club, and members of the solar supply chain. 

Saina Shirodkar from GEDA opened proceedings by sharing GEDA’s vision for a greener, cleaner Goa. Ms. Shirodkar positioned rooftop solar as a keystone in the Clean Energy Roadmap for Panaji achieving net zero by 2050. She also discussed the role of innovative solar models, including agrophotovoltaics (APVs), building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), and floating-and-canal-based photovoltaics, to suit Goa’s diverse landscape.

Anish Sousa, founder and CEO of Sun 360, reviewed Goa’s solar landscape from a vendor’s perspective. Mr. Sousa, whose highly informative and accessible Instagram clips break down complex concepts for the layperson, discussed, among other things, challenges posed by an ever-evolving subsidy landscape, and the need for targeted communication to the audience. 

Vidheya Kossambe from Agarwal Renewable Energy offered a deep dive into the world of manufacturing solar systems. Through a wealth of documentary videos, Mr. Kossambe immersed the audience in the high-tech, highly demanding world of a solar factory, with clean rooms and numerous quality checks to guard against the tiniest crack or speck of dust. Mr. Kossambe’s presentation was an eye-opener, enabling the audience to appreciate the technical expertise and care that go into solar manufacturing.

Sandeep Naik, a renewable energy sector expert and past president of the Solar Association of Goa, discussed his perspective as a prominent member of Lions Club. Mr. Naik discussed the Club’s many efforts and initiatives to promote rooftop solar across Goa, and offered his own perspectives on challenges and opportunities in this dynamic field. 

Other speakers included: Transitions’ Deputy Director, Ms. Angelina Chamuah, who discussed Transitions’ broader emissions mitigation work in Goa, and the key role of government and civil-society partnerships in just transitions; and Amita Basu, who discussed field insights around barriers and enablers to solar adoption in Goa. A panel discussion rounded out the event, featuring lively debates between panellists as well as pointed questions from the audience.

At our events, we distributed a set of four pamphlets that PULL designed on the basis of our fieldwork and policy analysis. These rooftop solar pamphlets fill in key information gaps, harness key enablers, and use behaviourally informed communication and design to appeal to their target audience: homeowners and business owners in Goa. Based on our field research and developed with extensive iterative feedback from the target audience, these pamphlets were well-received by attendees of our events.

The rooftop solar events Transitions organised in June in Panaji featured informative speakers and enthusiastic audiences. They suggest the existence of an active, involved community eager to embrace new technology and do their bit to contribute to net zero. These events reaffirm our belief that an informed, empowered, engaged public will be key to our transition to a just society.