Harish Hande, SELCO--SEY 2007 Winner

See Harish Hande's full profile at:
http://www.khemkafoundation.org/awards/sey07/sey07_hande.php

Harish Hande has pioneered access to rural solar electrification for below poverty line families through a combination of customized lighting systems, innovative doorstep financing, and an understanding of market needs of different user groups. To further the effects, he has created SELCO entrepreneurs who distribute solar powered lights to low-income communities. His company SELCO pioneers linkages between technology, financing, energy services, income generation and the quality of life for its customers.

Dr H. Harish Hande is the managing director and cofounder of SELCO-India. He is an engineering graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and he earned his Doctorate in energy engineering (with a solar specialty) at the University of Massachusetts. Harish originally started his PhD thesis in heat transfer. When visiting the Dominican Republic, he saw areas with worse poverty than India that were using solar energy and decided to shift his academic focus. Upon returning to Massachusetts, he flung his heat transfer thesis into the river. He then started anew on solar electrification in rural areas and conducted much of his research in India, Sri Lanka, and the Dominican Republic. He is widely recognized as an expert in the field of renewable energy and has received the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2005.

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