Productive Power for Smallholder Farmers
2023 was a year of incredible progress. We reached over 120 on-farm solar projects impacting nearly 30,000 beneficiaries and expanded our team to 72 passionate changemakers. We secured $ 1 million in impact funding, won prestigious awards, and presented our Farming-as-a-Service model at COP28 in Dubai.
PUE or Productive Use of Energy appliances help users generate additional or new sources of income and improve their quality of life.
This funding has been received under the theme Climate Resilience and will enable the expansion of our B2C farming services and the promotion of digital farm advisory.
We received the top score for Appliances in the 2024 Energy Impact Index, which benchmarked the social performance of 140+ energy organisations over the last three years. The score is made up of three key areas – Impact, Customer Experience and Access.
Oorja partners with IISD to study impact of secondary usage of energy generated from solar pumps
The study will explore milling (agro-processing) as an alternative use of solar power when pumps are not running, as well as their social and gender impact.
IWMI links up with Oorja for research on maximising the benefit of solar irrigation for rural livelihoods
This includes an in-depth study on the usage of Oorja's solar irrigation pumps to explore how to promote high utilisation and social impact of these systems.
About us
Oorja is a Farming as a Service company working at the intersection of sustainable agriculture and clean energy. We provide solar-powered irrigation, milling and cooling services to smallholder farmers on a pay-per-use basis.
Hit play to see what we do below! ▶️
We install, own, operate and maintain decentralised solar energy systems at the farm level. There is no upfront cost charged to end-users.
We operate and maintain these solar systems for their full lifetime.We sell reliable and affordable solar farming services to farmers through an innovative and inclusive Pay-Per-Use business model. This means users pay according to the amount of irrigation water pumped, produce milled or stored at affordable tariffs.
Our farming services
How we work
Finance
We raise finance for the company to invest in community-scale agri infrastructure. This is typically blended capital.
Site identification
We identify or receive referrals for potential project sites where smallholder farmers rely on diesel power for their energy needs.
Demand assessment
Our ground team conducts farmer consultation to assess demand for our services. We form groups of interested farmers and may collect membership fees from them.
Installation
We procure equipment from reputed domestic suppliers and complete civil works, installation testing and commissioning of solar systems.
Service delivery
We hire an Operator from the local community and train them to deliver irrigation, milling or cooling services and maintain a sales register.
Paying-per-use
Customers pay the Operator based on their consumption at affordable tariffs. For example, irrigation is paid per litre based on a flowmeter.
Ops and maintenance
Our ground team conducts regular maintenance and repairs, ensuring services are hassle-free and keeping our customers happy.
Monitoring
We monitor project performance and collect annual impact data. This helps us to assess the economic, social and environmental benefits.
Impact
We are aligned to 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Access to affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic activity and poverty alleviation. It enables people to use appliances and machines that help them to seek better livelihoods, increase their food security, access quality education, breathe cleaner air and live in a cleaner environment, and lead lives of greater dignity and less hard labour. Oorja's services are designed to transform the lives of low-income communities, notably small and marginal farmers, low-income households and women farmers, by significantly increasing income when linked to productive activities at their farm. Displacing diesel - a fossil fuel - in favour of solar energy also delivers significant carbon emissions savings.
657
kWp PV capacity installed
29,500+
people reached
58
jobs created
in last-mile
rural communities
57%
increase in users'
agricultural income
in 1 year
2,542
tonnes CO2eq saved
Newsletter
Find out what's fresh.
Copyright © Oorja Development Solutions Limited 2024
Images © Oorja Development Solutions India and © Adam Barr.
Icons made by prettycons, Freepik, Kiranshastry, Surang and srip from Flaticon licensed by a Creative Commons BY 3.0 license.