One tool that could be used to assess the energy needs of a rural off-grid area like Pakistan’s is MIT D-lab’s Energy Assessment Toolkit.
The toolkit, which is online and open-source, is designed to help local organizations gather the right inputs to make informed decisions on the level of technologies and business models needed to meet a rural community’s energy needs.
What The Toolkit IncludesSurvey and Interview Guides
The toolkit includes guides to perform surveys and interviews to collect inputs from a range of stakeholders, such as community residents, business owners, government officials and others.
The guides do not presume expertise in the energy sector but they do presuppose a strong presence in a candidate community. The ability to take action based on the opportunities identified by the toolkit are essential to successful outcomes.
Among the topics the toolkit helps explore:
- Current energy access and expenditures
- Aspirational energy needs
- Existing supply chains
- Community institutions and stakeholders (private sector, government, NGO)
The toolkit also includes data entry and data visualization tools that can be used to analyze the data collected. A solution design guide helps identify the appropriate technologies and business models after analysis of the data. Watch a short video of the toolkit in use.
Download Info and Contact
- D-Lab ()
- Full D-Lab()
We have piloted this assessment process with organizations in Latin America, West Africa, and India. If you are interested in working with D-Lab to conduct an assessment of the energy needs and market opportunities in the off-grid community where you work or if you have feedback on the Energy Assessment Toolkit , please email Eric Verploegen.
Source: MIT D-Lab
