At 9 am, when most of Mallikheda village is just settling into its day, Suman (49) unlocks her small banking outlet and switches on the lights — no longer waiting for the grid to cooperate. “After installing the solar panels, I don’t worry about long power cuts anymore,” she tells The Better India . “My customer base has more than doubled. People from eight to ten nearby villages now come to my shop to get their work done.” For Suman, who runs a Banking Correspondent (BC) enterprise in Unnao district, uninterrupted electricity isn’t a luxury. It determines whether transactions go through, whether customers return, and whether her income remains steady. Her turnaround is part of the Decentralised Renewable Energy for Women’s Economic Empowerment (DEWEE) programme, implemented by the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission in partnership with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), PCI India, the Gates Foundation, and HSBC. Launched in February 2025, the initiative connects women-led self-help groups (SHGs) and rural enterprises with distributed renewable energy solutions, ensuring that clean power directly strengthens livelihoods. So far, 1,16,000women-led businesses have adopted solar-enabled energy systems under the programme, collectively over 2000 solar installations with a total of 12.5 MW capacity has been deployed across 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Behind the programme design lies a simple reality — for women like Suman, reliable electricity means no more flickering lights, stalled transactions, or turning customers away. When electricity dictates your dreams Suman lives with her husband, who works in a leather factory, and their two children. With his fragile health and modest income, she opened a BC enterprise to support the family. Her shop handles digital banking transactions, printing, photocopying, and Aadhaar-linked services for villagers who would otherwise have to travel far. But electricity was unreliable. “Sometimes there was no power for up to 10 days,” she recalls. “Our computers wouldn’t work. Mobile phones and devices wouldn’t charge, and customers would come and leave disappointed.” Without power, she couldn’t process withdrawals, transfers, or print documents. Trust, the backbone of financial services, began to erode. With solar power supporting their enterprises, Suman and Aarti are turning reliable energy into steady income and greater independence. Before installing solar panels in June 2025, she could operate only four to five hours a day, depending on supply. Often, electricity arrived late at night — impossible for a woman balancing work and home. Samit Mitra, Managing Director – Country Delivery, India at GEAPP, says Suman’s experience reflects a larger structural gap. “Though 100% of Indian villages are electrified, the poles and wires are there, but there are still gaps in reliability and regularity,” he says. “Many of these women could not work to their full potential because the time of day was dictated by when electricity was available.” Cost compounded the challenge. “In many cases, they shifted to diesel as an alternate source of energy ,” he adds. “But diesel is expensive, so energy became one of their largest input costs.” Why energy became the entry point GEAPP’s broader mandate centres on accelerating clean energy adoption — but with livelihoods at its core. Through the DEWEE programme, the goal is to support 500,000 women-led micro enterprises nationally, including 100,000 in UP alone. Along with this, facilitate 1500 MW of DRE installation, enable 2 million women's livelihoods, and avoid approximately 20 million tonnes of lifetime CO2 emission “Our major mandate is the promotion and adoption of clean energy,” Samit explains. “But the purpose is to improve livelihoods and economic conditions on the ground.” As the team assessed opportunities across states, one pattern stood out: women-led enterprises under state livelihood missions were active and ambitious — but energy-constrained. State livelihood missions, already deeply engaged in enterprise development through SHGs, offered the right platform. “If you want to deliver social impact at scale, you have to align with government initiatives,” Samit explains. “SHGs are an integral part of livelihood missions. They are the fastest way to reach a large number of enterprises.” A feasibility study within the UPSRLM ecosystem showed that 60–65% of SHG members were engaged in economic activity. Across eight to nine dominant enterprise categories, energy repeatedly emerged as a growth bottleneck. Business modelling suggested that with reliable renewable power, incomes could grow two to three times — something women like Suman are now experiencing firsthand. A panel on the roof, a shift in power In early 2025, Suman learned about the solar solution during a village organisation meeting. Archana, a field officer from the Devi Project under the DEWEE initiative, explained how a decentralised solar system could ensure uninterrupted power for small enterprises. “We told her that we were facing constant problems because of electricity,” Suman recalls. “She suggested installing solar panels as a solution.” What stood out to Suman was how structured and accessible the process was. Registration was completed through the SHG network, after which she applied for a bank loan to install a 1 kW rooftop solar system . With continuous guidance and technical support, the panels were successfully set up at her shop. Suman at her banking correspondent outlet in Mallikheda village, where rooftop solar now powers digital transactions and services for nearby villages. Today, Suman runs her BC enterprise for nine hours a day — double the time she could manage earlier . Her monthly income has risen from Rs 9,000 to Rs 18,000 . She no longer worries about electricity costs and is able to save for her family. “I save money for my children’s education,” she says. “Earlier, if I wanted to do something, I had to ask whether we had money or not. Now times have changed.” That single sentence carries the quiet weight of transformation. With steady power, she also added three mobile charging points outside her shop, a small but clever business expansion that increased footfall. Her husband, who earlier felt compelled to work continuously despite health issues, can now take breaks when needed. School fees are paid on time, and both children attend school without interruption. Samit points to this as one of the most profound yet hardest-to-quantify impacts of energy access. “When a woman starts earning, most of her income goes toward the family’s well-being,” he says. “We have seen children being moved from government schools to private schools and better spending on healthcare.” Beyond numbers, he has observed another shift — confidence. “A year back, many women were shy to even speak on camera,” he says. “Now the way they speak and the confidence with which they come across has changed hugely.” Energy, in this context, is no longer just about kilowatts but about dignity. Energy as agency In Mallikheda, the impact of solar is no longer limited to one rooftop. “Because of us, many people are thinking of installing it,” Suman says. “Everyone has a light problem. We tell them, ‘ We have installed solar panels ; you should also install them.’” Two other local entrepreneurs — a waitress and a grocery store owner, have already followed her example. In a village where electricity outages were once accepted as fate, rooftops are beginning to tell a different story. Suman is already planning her next step: installing an additional 500W panel to run a sewing machine. She hopes to create employment for other women and possibly move her shop to the main road to expand the business. Her journey mirrors GEAPP’s broader strategy of “democratising energy,” in which households not only consume electricity but also generate their own clean power through rooftop solar systems. “It’s no longer just about wires and poles,” Samit says. “It’s about the sustainable development of a unit. Rooftop solar is becoming the centre of that.” Reliable energy has reshaped Suman’s enterprise — and her position within her family and community. She no longer waits for electricity to arrive before starting her day. She decides when work begins and when it ends. In rural India, where women’s economic participation is often constrained by invisible barriers, a 1 kW panel has become something far larger — a tool of independence, stability, and aspiration. And as more rooftops begin to gleam under the sun, the question shifts from whether villages are electrified to who truly controls the switch. When the energy problem becomes personal Policy conversations around clean energy often speak in megawatts and targets. But in rural Uttar Pradesh, the energy gap shows up more quietly — in cancelled orders, damaged equipment, sleepless nights, and income that never quite stabilises. In Dundapur village of Unnao district, that gap once defined 30-year-old Aarti Singh’s everyday reality. Aarti runs the Raghav RO Water Plant with her family. On paper, it was a promising rural enterprise. In practice, unreliable electricity made it unpredictable. Photograph: (At the Raghav RO Water Plant in Dundapur village, an 11.6 kW solar system ensures uninterrupted water filtration and packaging operations.) “Earlier, our RO plant would stop again and again because of electricity,” she recalls. “We could only work for three to four hours. Our chiller got damaged within 15 days. Many times we had to cancel bookings.” Power cuts meant interrupted filtration cycles, idle machinery, and unhappy customers. Monthly electricity bills ranged between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 , leaving her with savings of barely Rs 8,000–10,000 . “We faced a lot of problems,” she says. “We could not even sleep peacefully at night worrying about the machine.” The business wasn’t failing — but it was stuck. The meeting that changed the math Aarti first heard about solar through her Self-Help Group meetings. At a Gram Sabha gathering, she met Archana Sharma , a field officer with the Devi Project implemented by PCI India. “She came to our house and explained everything to my husband,” Aarti says. “She told us what benefits we would get.” A technical assessment mapped her plant’s load requirements and projected savings. In October 2025 , she invested Rs 5.6 lakh through a government-backed loan to install an 11.6 kW off-grid solar system , complete with panels, inverter, and batteries. “It was not easy. We had to visit the bank two to three times,” she says. “But I knew this was for our future.” From survival to stability The shift did not take long to show. What was once a business constantly interrupted by power cuts began operating with predictability and pace. Today, the plant runs 9–12 hours a day without disruption . The chiller, pumps, filtration system and pouch-packing unit function smoothly — something that once felt impossible. “Now we can supply water on time,” Aarti says. “Earlier, we had to cancel bookings because of electricity cuts. It was a big loss for us. Now we are getting full value for our investment.” Through the DEWEE initiative, over 1 lakh women-led businesses in Uttar Pradesh are adopting solar power — boosting incomes and strengthening rural enterprises. The financial difference is equally visible . Her monthly savings have risen to Rs 15,000–20,000 — nearly double what she managed earlier. “Now there is money in hand,” she says. “I don’t have to ask for it anymore from my husband.” In a village economy, that shift carries weight beyond income. It changes who makes decisions — and who is heard. “Other women ask us where we got this information from,” she says. “Two or three people are planning to start their own factory and are thinking about installing solar panels as well.” What began as a solution to an electricity problem has quietly turned into something larger — confidence, credibility, and control over her own enterprise. Why energy was the missing piece Aarti’s transformation is also part of the DEWEE programme led by GEAPP in partnership with the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission. But as Samit explains, the idea did not begin with solar panels — it began with a systems question. “We were seeing women’s enterprises plateau. They had the skills and market demand, but something structural was limiting scale,” he says. Energy emerged as that constraint. Instead of treating solar purely as an environmental intervention, the programme framed it as an enterprise productivity tool . Consistent daytime power increases output cycles, reduces equipment damage, and improves working conditions. “It was not just about cutting electricity bills,” Samit says. “It was about giving entrepreneurs predictability. Once you remove uncertainty, they start planning differently.” As solar panels spread across village rooftops, rural women are gaining the reliable energy needed to grow their businesses and support their families. The model aggregates demand across clusters, conducts load assessments, supports bank linkages, and ensures after-sales servicing — addressing the trust deficit that often deters first-time adopters. Where reliable power becomes self-reliance For Aarti, solar energy is peace of mind. “Now we simply switch it on and start working,” she says. “There’s no tension about electricity anymore.” She plans to expand pouch-packing during wedding seasons and eventually employ other women. “The solar system has been very good for us,” she says. “It’s convenient, and there are no disruptions. Others should also adopt it — it’s truly beneficial.” In villages like Dundapur, energy isn’t debated in policy terms. It is experienced in uninterrupted workdays and independent financial decisions. When power becomes reliable, possibilities become real. All images courtesy Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet