Exploring a Solar Energy Transition: Using a Participatory Video with Most Significant Change (PVMSC) Approach with Villagers in Rural India

Renewable energy (RE) transitions are vital in achieving climate change targets and such transitions are gaining momentum globally. India is at the forefront of renewable energies having increased its renewable energy capacity by 250% between 2014-2021. As a solution to sustainable rural energy access, a solar community building (Solar Oasis) has been constructed in a village in Maharashtra, India by the Strategic University Network to Revolutionise Indian Solar Energy (SUNRISE) collaboration. However, currently we do not know if RE transitions are equitably beneficial particularly for those reliant on fossil fuels for daily activities, for example, there are concerns that decarbonizing energy systems may in fact increase the risk of disparities among social groups (including age, sex, economic status). To increase knowledge in this area, a Participatory Video with Most Significant Change (PVMSC) monitoring and evaluation approach was used to obtain local experiences and perspectives of the Solar Oasis building and its use in diverse community members’ own words and images. The participants discussed the significant changes to their lives and livelihoods following access to the building and planned, filmed, edited, and presented a film shown at a community screening event. Themes discussed and screened in the final film included: 1) benefits from changes to daily activities; 2) potential for economic changes; 3) opportunities for knowledge and skill development; 4) potential health and wellbeing improvements. Additional requirements and future actions were also identified and discussed regarding the village’s ongoing development. The PVMSC approach has been useful in this study where the unique insights offered by the participants are communicated easily back to other members of the community and widely to other stakeholders and the SUNRISE project team, in the words and voices that may not have been adequately captured by other methods.