What does “communities’ solar” look like in practice? 

As part of its ongoing work on “Communities’ Solar” in Thailand, the project CASE for Southeast Asia (CASE) in Thailand conducted a field visit to the Ban Yang Daeng community, Khu Yai Mi Sub-district, Chachoengsao Province, on 7 May 2026, to better understand how community solar initiatives are being implemented on the ground and what conditions are needed to support them in the long term.  

The visit brought together perspectives from local governments, community leaders, social enterprises, and residents, including the Ban Yang Daeng Savings for Development Group (กลุ่มออมทรัพย์เพื่อการพัฒนาบ้านยางแดง), Saengsuree Power (แสงสุรีย์ พาวเวอร์), community solar technicians, the Wat Yang Daeng committee, the Organic Seed Production and Collection Learning Centre (ศูนย์เรียนรู้การผลิตและการเก็บเมล็ดพันธุ์ในระบบเกษตรอินทรีย์), and the Khu Yai Mi Sub-district Administrative Organization (SAO). 

Understanding the Local Government Role  

A key focus of the visit was engagement with local authorities to understand perceptions of and support for “Communities’ Solar” initiatives. Discussions with strategic and operational representatives and the Mayor of the Khu Yai Mi SAO highlighted growing interest in decentralised solar applications, particularly solar-powered groundwater pumping for agriculture. Local authorities recognised the potential of community solar to reduce energy costs, strengthen farmer resilience, improve local resource management, and support public services amid rising electricity prices. 

Discussions with the operational team also identified several institutional and regulatory barriers. Existing procurement and auditing regulations make it difficult for local governments to justify upfront solar investments to oversight agencies, despite potential long-term savings. Maintenance was another key concern, as current regulations provide complicated and burdensome budget mechanisms for the long-term repair and upkeep of solar systems classified as public assets. 

Local officials reflected on previous experiences with solar-powered community water systems serving agricultural areas of more than 150 rai. While initially successful, these systems later deteriorated due to limited maintenance structures and challenges in sustaining collective management arrangements. Discussions also highlighted organisational constraints, as many agricultural support schemes require group-based participation, while villagers are often reluctant to formally organise into collectives, limiting access to solar support mechanisms. 

While local authorities expressed willingness to support pilot projects, they emphasised the need for clearer national policy direction and stronger regulatory support to reduce administrative risks and enable greater experimentation with decentralised energy models. 

From Cassava Dependence to Community Self-Reliance: Building a Locally Owned Financial System  

Beyond the energy discussion itself, the field visit highlighted the social foundations that enabled community solar initiatives to emerge. The development trajectory of Ban Yang Daeng began several decades earlier with the work of Kasem Phetnathi, a former forestry officer who acted as a mediator between the state and local villagers. At the time, the community had recently been established on degraded reserved forest land and faced high levels of poverty, limited state support, and heavy dependence on cassava cultivation. Over time, unstable incomes and recurring losses exposed the vulnerabilities associated with reliance on a single crop. 

In response, community members gradually developed local systems of self-reliance, guided by two key principles: strengthening community participation and expanding local knowledge and learning processes. 

As local agricultural initiatives became more established, the community introduced savings groups to reduce dependence on external lenders. The initial model, however, faced challenges related to limited community ownership, weak transparency, and insufficient access arrangements. Drawing on these lessons, the community later redesigned the mechanism into a more inclusive “savings for capital development” system that enabled broad participation, including contributions as small as one baht. 

Today, the Ban Yang Daeng Development Savings Group (กลุ่มออมทรัพย์เพื่อการพัฒนาบ้านยางแดง) manages approximately 10–15 million baht in community savings, providing an important locally managed financial foundation that supports long-term community resilience and reduces dependence on external borrowing. 

Community-Led Solar Solutions  

The visit also included an exchange with Saengsuree Power (แสงสุรีย์ พาวเวอร์), a Thai social enterprise promoting decentralised, community-led solar solutions aimed at improving energy access and equity. Unlike conventional government-led approaches that primarily focus on providing solar panels to communities, Saengsuree Power emphasises promoting solar adoption through knowledge-building, strengthening community understanding of why solar energy matters, and fostering local ownership of energy systems. 

Community leaders explained that local solar initiatives emerged not primarily from energy policy discussions, but from community resistance to the proposed Khao Hin Sorn coal-fired power plant in 2007, which was planned within the area’s organic farming zone. Following sustained community opposition, the project was later converted into a natural gas proposal under Burapha Power, which the community continues to oppose. This process prompted a broader local discussion around alternative energy pathways, with solar energy gradually emerging as a preferred option, particularly through community-owned models rather than conventional top-down approaches. 

Saengsuree Power was subsequently established as a social enterprise supported by local savings groups, cooperatives, and agricultural networks. Drawing inspiration from the “Kep Tawan Group” (กลุ่มเก็บตะวัน), a partner organisation providing full-service solar solutions in southern Thailand, the initiative recognised that externally installed solar systems are often left without adequate maintenance due to limited local technical capacity. In response, the organisation prioritised the development of community-based technicians capable of independently installing and maintaining solar systems. 

The model expanded gradually through demonstration projects. Initial pilot systems installed on a small number of farms later spread organically to households and neighbouring communities as residents observed the practical benefits directly. 

Solar Systems in Practice  

The field visit included several examples of how community solar systems are being applied.  

Village Water Supply System. Before solar installation, the village water supply system faced electricity costs exceeding 8,000 baht per month. After installation, costs fell to only a few hundred baht. As community solar technicians noted that “electricity is the cost behind water costs”, villagers were complaining that water was too expensive. The system uses 8-kilowatt gel batteries and two water pumps, modified to ensure storage tanks remain full at all times.   

Wat Yang Daeng. The local temple previously faced electricity bills of around 10,000 baht per month and relied heavily on annual merit-making ceremonies (Kathin) to cover costs. The temple committee decided to use Kathin donations to finance a solar system through Saengsuree Power on an interest-free installment plan. They installed a 16-kilowatt hybrid on/off-grid inverter system with 300-amp batteries. The system now supplies electricity to the temple itself and to a water pumping system that provides water to the temple, the local health promotion hospital, and a nearby school, with the health centre and school reimbursing the temple for water usage, creating a sustainable revenue cycle. 

Organic Farming Learning Centre. With family members and neighbours already using solar, the centre decided to install solar for its vegetable irrigation system to reduce pump and electricity costs. Installation was carried out by Saengsuree’s community technicians.   

Strengthening the Ecosystem  

One of the key lessons from Ban Yang Daeng was that a just energy transition does not necessarily begin with energy itself. Instead, it is rooted in trust-building, strong local institutions, and collective self-reliance. In this case, solar energy was developed as an extension of these existing community foundations rather than as a standalone technical intervention. 

The field visit also highlighted that “Communities’ Solar” means different things to different stakeholders.  

Communities, local governments, academics, and policymakers each bring different priorities and expectations, ranging from affordability and resilience to scalability, governance, and system integration. Discussions, therefore, focused not only on solar technology but also on how different actors understand and envision community-led energy systems. 

Several common challenges emerged across discussions, including limited policy support, financing constraints, unclear regulatory frameworks, and gaps in technical and institutional capacity. Community representatives emphasised the importance of more flexible financing mechanisms, greater opportunities for local electricity trading, and increased decentralisation of ownership and decision-making to communities and local governments. 

As one community representative reflected, “Change from the bottom until the top has no choice but to change.” — Orracha (Oi), Saengsuree Power 

Through activities such as field visits and community storytelling, the project CASE in Thailand seeks to better understand these different perspectives and contribute to a more inclusive enabling environment for “Communities’ Solar” in Thailand.