EMPOWER: Vol 7, Issue 3 – September 2026

Dear Friends of Smart Village,

Sixteen years ago, when IEEE Smart Village made its first seed grants, we couldn’t have promised anyone that those investments would still be paying off in 2026. But this year, two of the entrepreneurs whom we backed in 2012 and 2016, years apart in different corners of Nigeria, joined forces and won a $119 million initiative, backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Norwegian Investment Fund, to build 109 solar mini-grids serving more than 230,000 homes and businesses. That single initiative will very nearly double the number of people our entrepreneurs serve worldwide, to more than four million.

I share that story again, not to boast, but because it captures something I think about often: we rarely get to see, in real time, what a small, well-placed bet on a person becomes ten years later. This one, we did.

Our mission has never changed: empowerment through enterprise. We give local teams seed funds, typically $25,000 to $200,000, to build electricity-based businesses in their own communities: solar microgrids, water pumps, cold storage, and the enterprises that grow up around reliable power. We ask every project to stand on three legs at once: electricity, education, and enterprise, because we’ve learned, project after project, that leaving any one of them out is usually where things quietly fail later.

Some of the ways we structure our grants can look, from the outside, like bureaucratic paperwork. We ask that most of the money go toward things that directly generate income, not just training sessions, because training without a paycheck at the end of it rarely changes anyone’s life. We stay heavily involved while a project is being built and pull back once it’s standing on its own, because the help that matters most comes early, and the help that matters least is us hanging around after a community has proven it doesn’t need us anymore. Neither rule is really about paperwork. Both are about trusting people once they’ve earned it.

None of this happens without our Regional Committees – Africa, South Asia, North America, Latin America, and China, staffed entirely by volunteers who evaluate proposals, mentor entrepreneurs, and stay in touch with them long after the check clears. We built that structure only in the last five years, as our portfolio outgrew what a single review process in one place could handle. I want to be honest about what that means: we are, by design, a volunteer-run organization, and that shapes how fast and how far we can grow. We’d rather grow carefully, in ways that keep decision-making close to the communities we serve, than grow quickly and lose that.

That’s the work ahead of us: writing down more of what already works and stepping up training so new volunteers and new regions can pick it up faster, giving our Regional Committees a bit more backing so they can carry more without carrying more risk. For our most proven enterprises, we must help them find their way to bigger funders, the way our Nigerian entrepreneurs found the IFC on their own. None of it changes who we are. All of it is in service of reaching more of the four million people, and the millions more, who are still waiting for reliable power and a real chance to build something with it.
If you’ve ever wondered how you could contribute: our committees are volunteer-run and always looking for people willing to give a few hours a month to a proposal, a mentorship, documentation and training, regular reporting, or organizing and creating content for publicity, or a site visit. If that’s you, reach out to me or reply to this newsletter, and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Thank you, as always, for being part of this with us.

Rajan Kapur
President, IEEE Smart Village

IEEE Smart Village once again participated in the IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, September 21–25, 2026. The gathering was a resounding success, with ISV welcoming more than 60 developers, partners, and other stakeholders for knowledge sharing, practical problem-solving, and collaboration.

Under the conference theme, “Accelerating Resilient Energy Systems & Industrial Decarbonization through Innovation,” participants explored how bold ideas can become reliable, low-carbon, and sustainable power solutions across Africa. Complementing the main conference, ISV’s six-day program bridged technical insight and real-world action, addressing the challenges of building resilient enterprises that deliver lasting impact in underserved communities.

Highlights included the ISV Education Plenary, a panel on Community Energy Hubs for Rural Productive Uses, and developer presentations from Nigeria, Malawi, and beyond. Sessions explored second-life batteries, solar milling, clean cooking, governance, and business models. An entrepreneurship workshop and “Meet the Entrepreneur” pitch session brought enterprise development into focus, giving participants space to share ideas and learn from one another.

The gathering also opened the door to promising conversations about future collaboration, including a visit by ISV delegates to Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) in Nyeri, Kenya. With shared interests in entrepreneurship, education, and using technology to improve lives, ISV and DeKUT will explore opportunities for a potential partnership in the coming months.

Throughout the gathering, ISV leadership, regional chairs, developers, partners, and expert volunteers contributed perspectives from across the network. Their participation reflected ISV’s long-term commitment to supporting entrepreneurs as their enterprises grow and evolve.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s gathering a success. The exchange of knowledge and strengthening of relationships in Nairobi will support continued collaboration to expand enterprise-driven electrification across Africa.

Powering the Homestead: Solar Comes to Molokai

Twelve Native Hawaiian homestead families in Molokai’s Naiwa Agricultural Homestead community have never had grid electricity, sewer service, or reliable communications, a gap that touches everything from lighting and refrigeration to schooling and healthcare. This year, IEEE Smart Village and the Molokai Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) are closing it.

With $200,000 in new funding, MAHA board president Liliana Napoleon is leading a phased rollout of solar-plus-battery power and internet service to all twelve homes, working alongside local partners SunFarmers and Computers, LLC, and an IEEE volunteer project manager. Homes go live four at a time, each system tested and confirmed before the next group begins.

Families are expected to save roughly $600 a month compared to costlier backup power, while gaining reliable lighting, refrigeration, telehealth, and online schooling for the first time, directly benefiting 60 to 100 people and reaching up to 200 more indirectly. Most importantly, they will pay a monthly fee during the first few years of use in a lease-to-own model. This will create a self-perpetuating business, where the money collected will be used to power more homesteads, truly powered by the sun. If the model succeeds here, it could expand to roughly 600 more homestead sites on Molokai, and beyond.

In Zambia’s gemstone-rich Copperbelt, women have long had little access to training in cutting and finishing the stones mined nearby. The training that does happen is routinely interrupted by power outages. Kuumba Smart Vision Zambia (KSV) and IEEE Smart Village are investing to fix both problems at once, with IEEE contributing $85,000 toward a $123,000 total project.

The plan is to build a fully equipped lapidary training and production center in Ndola, complete with faceting, tumbling, drilling, and calibrating equipment, and back it with solar power so training and production continue no matter what the grid does.

Over eighteen months, the number of women trained will more than double, from about 100 to over 200, each learning to turn raw stones into finished jewelry. Once running at scale, the center is expected to produce 5,000 gemstone pieces a month, with sales revenue covering its own upkeep and funding future cohorts, rippling outward to more than 1,000 people through local supply chains and retail.

From the Power Grid to the Front Lines of Energy Access

Sanjay Patki spent a career keeping the lights on for one of India’s largest utilities. Now retired, he’s spending his second act making sure the world’s most remote communities get that same reliable power for the first time.

When Dr. Robin Podmore organized a meeting of energy professionals on the sidelines of a conference on smart cities and smart villages in India, he could not have known he was about to recruit one of IEEE Smart Village’s most dedicated regional leaders. Representing Tata Power that day was Sanjay Patki, a veteran power systems engineer whose decades in the industry were about to find a new, deeply personal purpose.

Sanjay’s career gave him a rare vantage point on what energy access actually takes to deliver. Trained in power systems at the postgraduate level, he spent his career at Tata Power, a century-old private utility, rising through technical and leadership roles before retiring from regular employment in 2015. Retirement, though, turned out to be less an ending than an opening: IEEE Smart Village (ISV) offered him a way to put that hard-won expertise to work for communities that had never had reliable power at all.

That first meeting with Dr. Podmore planted the seed. Subsequent visits by ISV founder Dr. Ray Larsen helped establish the India Group, and in 2016, Sanjay signed on. He started, as many of the most committed volunteers do, in the trenches, serving on the Project Development Committee, evaluating funding proposals. It was unglamorous, essential work: such work is the essence of ISV’s unique development methodology. It gave him a closeup view of how ISV’s mission translates into real support on the ground.

That closeup view earned him a bigger role. When the India Group evolved into the South Asia Regional Committee in 2020, Sanjay was asked to chair it and was tasked with building a volunteer team essentially from scratch and putting in place the structure and processes ISV would need to run its programs effectively across the region. He did, and in 2024 that track record carried him onto the ISV Executive Committee, where he now helps oversee streamlining the enterprise lifecycle while maintaining operational engagement with the whole organization. Today he’s focused on refining the proposal intake process, clarifying responsibilities, and strengthening the ties between central leadership and regional volunteers – the connective tissue that is setting ISV up for sustained growth and greater impact.

Ask Sanjay why this work matters to him personally, and the answer traces straight back to his career: expanding access to reliable energy for underserved, remote communities, and with it, real pathways to economic opportunity. It’s the same mission that drove his decades in the power sector but just aimed now at the people who need it most.

His advice for anyone considering volunteering with ISV is characteristically direct: find something that genuinely interests you and commit to it wholeheartedly. Enjoy the work. Bring your full capabilities to its challenges. And stay dedicated, above all, to the people you’re ultimately serving.

For Sanjay Patki, that’s exactly what a decade of volunteering with IEEE Smart Village has become — not a departure from his life’s work, but its continuation: one more way to bring power, in every sense, to the people who need it.

From Engineering to Greater Energy Access

Julia Tucker brings her engineering expertise and passion for energy access to ISV, contributing to projects that create meaningful community impact.

After a decade designing consumer electronics, Julia Tucker is bringing her engineering experience and passion for energy access to the IEEE Smart Village (ISV) community.

Tucker has worked on products ranging from smart home devices and beauty products to off-grid energy solutions for markets in the United States and Africa. Having previously worked on solar home systems, she was looking for ways to remain involved in energy access initiatives when she discovered ISV.

Since joining as a volunteer in January 2026, Tucker has served on the Project Development and Operations Committees, contributing to the review of project proposals and documenting project progress through slides and articles shared with members and donors.

For Tucker, the most rewarding part of engineering is seeing how technology enables people to improve their lives. Through ISV, she says she has been able to witness that impact firsthand through projects and the dedication of volunteers.

Her advice to prospective volunteers is simple: “You don’t have to already be an expert in a relevant field to volunteer; there is a large team of knowledgeable volunteers and helpful training, so anyone can join and get involved. Don’t be afraid to reach out and raise your hand for help.”

Across South Asia, clean energy is doing more than turning on the lights—it is helping communities grow. By pairing reliable electricity with agricultural tools, local businesses, and community leadership, IEEE Smart Village (ISV) is helping people increase incomes, create jobs, strengthen essential services, and unlock new opportunities. In 2026, the IEEE Smart Village South Asia Regional Committee continued to build on successful projects while launching new approaches to expand this impact even further.

Solar-Powered Irrigation Transforms Farming in Kudagaon

Located on an island in the Mahanadi River in Odisha, Kudagaon received electricity for the first time through an ISV-supported smart microgrid in 2019. However, water scarcity continued to limit agricultural production. To address this challenge, ISV and SunMoksha introduced Smart AQUAnet™, a five-kilowatt solar-powered irrigation network. By reducing dependence on diesel-powered pumping and improving access to water, the system has helped farmers cultivate more land and increase their earnings.

Ten participating farmers expanded cultivation across approximately 11 acres, increasing their combined annual income from about $2,000 to $4,415 more than doubling their earnings.

Microgrids Connect Remote Communities in Palghar

In Maharashtra’s remote tribal region of Palghar, seasonal flash floods and fragile infrastructure frequently isolated communities and disrupted access to basic services. Working with E-Hands Energy, ISV established six solar-powered microgrids serving more than 2,000 residents. Together, the systems have generated more than 100 megawatt-hours of clean energy and avoided approximately 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Reliable household lighting has also contributed to a reported 70% reduction in childhood mosquito-borne illnesses.

The project has helped generate approximately $3,130 in additional gross income. It has also supported livelihoods for nine people in tailoring, four in traditional Warli painting, and 38 in jewelry assembly. Four newly established digital kiosks now provide services to more than 300 community members. The project has also earned approximately $1,500 through Distributed Renewable Energy Certificates, creating an innovative source of funding for long-term system maintenance.

Powering Agricultural Enterprise in Assam

In Jhawani, a 33-household farming village in Assam’s Sonitpur District, low agricultural productivity and limited access to machinery kept many families trapped in poverty. ISV and Tezpur University responded with an integrated package of solar energy, irrigation, processing, and storage infrastructure. A five-kilowatt solar-irrigation system now serves 15 marginalized farmers. A mustard-oil mill generates approximately $42 in daily community revenue, while a black-gram mill supports farmers cultivating approximately 185 acres of pulses. Solar-powered cold storage allows farmers to preserve perishable produce, reduce losses, and avoid selling immediately when market prices are unfavorable.

Scaling Innovation Through New Community Enterprises

Women-Led Enterprise in Paravur

In coastal Ernakulam, Kerala, ISV is helping establish a Community Resource Efficiency Hub to support 20 new women-led enterprises. The hub will provide energy-efficient processing equipment, solar dryers, and cold-storage facilities, enabling 100 women entrepreneurs to add commercial value to locally produced agricultural goods and marine catch. Two electric cargo vehicles and a solar-powered charging station are already helping strengthen a supply chain that supports 100 workers and approximately 1,000 local sourcing households.

A Smart Micro-Economic Zone in Katashola

The Katashola Smart Micro-Economic Zone introduces a participatory hub-and-spoke model designed to promote economic growth while protecting the local environment.

At the central hub, agricultural products and non-timber forest products can be processed and prepared for higher-value markets. The surrounding village “spokes” will receive locally appropriate services, including smart irrigation.

Powered by scalable solar-energy systems, the zone will also support essential digital services such as telehealth, rural banking, online learning, and access to local pharmacies. The model is designed to strengthen the entire Gram Panchayat while keeping local people and environmental sustainability at the center of development.

Preparing the Next Generation of Innovators

The South Asia Regional Committee is also investing in the young people who will design the next generation of clean-energy solutions. Seven student centers located at GVP College of Engineering in Visakhapatnam, Christ College of Engineering in Thrissur, RMK Engineering College and Sri Sairam Engineering College in Chennai, Tezpur University in Assam, the National Institute of Technology Mizoram, and Savitribai Phule Pune University currently engage approximately 15 faculty members and 67 students.

For 2026, ISV approved $10,033 in combined grants for student projects at five institutions. These grants will give emerging engineers opportunities to research, design, and test practical clean-energy solutions grounded in the needs of local communities. From solar irrigation and agricultural processing to women-led enterprises and student innovation, these initiatives demonstrate the power of combining technology with local leadership. Across South Asia, clean energy is becoming more than a source of electricity; it is creating pathways to healthier, more resilient, and economically secure communities.