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Our recent conversation with Premal Shah, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board for Renewables.org, explored how anyone can help finance the clean energy transition in the Global South through zero-interest loans as small as $25. We discussed how this innovative model — following the Kiva model— is now being applied to solar projects across India and Africa, unlocking capital in markets where it’s needed most and creating a powerful domino effect of climate finance.
Watch a recording of the conversation (1 hour) or read a quick recap.
Recording
Quick recap
The meeting was a discussion with Premal Shah, co-founder of Renewables.org, about how anyone can help finance solar projects across India and Africa through zero-interest loans as small as $25. Participants explored why capital is scarce in these high-impact markets, how small loans can catalyze large-scale commercial investment, and the remarkable grassroots momentum behind solar adoption in the Global South. The discussion concluded with a call to action for attendees to visit Renewables.org and to consider becoming a Planet Saving Subscriber with Climate Action Now.
Disclaimer: This is an auto-generated meeting summary from Zoom, offering a high-level overview of the discussion. Please note that it may not capture all details with perfect accuracy.
Summary
The Leapfrog Moment in the Global South
Sam Matey-Coste opened by framing the extraordinary moment we’re in: key metrics of renewable energy adoption — from electricity generation to EV adoption to battery sales — are now higher in many developing countries than in developed ones. Countries like Morocco, Kenya, and Namibia are further along the road to a fully renewable economy than the United States. And critically, the impact of electricity in these places is far greater — powering cold chains for vaccines, running businesses around the clock, and lifting communities out of energy poverty in ways that go far beyond adding a second TV.
Zero-Interest Loans, Maximum Impact
Premal Shah explained the core model behind Renewables.org: anyone can make a zero-interest loan of $25 or more to help finance solar projects in the Global South. The money is pooled, sent to vetted solar developers in markets like India and West Africa, and repaid monthly over five years as the solar installations generate electricity revenue. Lenders get their principal back — not a profit, but not a loss either — and can then re-lend that same money to new projects, compounding their impact over time. Premal likened it to what he saw as a co-founder of Kiva, where $2 billion was raised from millions of everyday lenders in $25 increments, achieving a 96% repayment rate.
The Chicken-and-Egg Problem of Climate Finance
A central theme of the conversation was why capital isn’t already flowing into these high-impact markets. Local banks in countries like Burkina Faso are reluctant to lend to solar developers because there’s no repayment track record — and without lending, no track record can be established. Premal described Renewables.org as a “snowplow,” clearing the road for larger institutional investors by demonstrating that solar projects in these markets are commercially viable. Once that proof exists, hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial capital can follow. This is the same domino effect that microfinance pioneered — small, concessionary loans catalyzing massive systemic change.
Resilience, Not Just Decarbonization
Sam and Premal widened the lens beyond emissions reductions. Solar energy in the Global South isn’t just a climate mitigation strategy — it’s a resilience strategy. As the conversation noted, sunshine travels 93 million miles to Earth, none of them through the Strait of Hormuz. Businesses and communities powered by solar are insulated from geopolitical shocks, fossil fuel price volatility, and grid failures. From Jamaican homes weathering hurricanes to Pakistani rooftops quietly becoming the country’s largest source of electricity through entirely grassroots, unsubsidized adoption, the evidence is mounting that decentralized solar is a force multiplier for communities worldwide.
Transparency as Trust
Addressing understandable skepticism about investing in politically complex markets, Premal pointed to the loan model itself as the accountability mechanism. On Renewables.org, lenders can see exactly where their money is going — a tea plantation in Tamil Nadu, a cooking oil refinery in Rwanda, a regional fish depot in Burkina Faso — and watch repayments arrive monthly. As Premal put it, if money were going to corrupt officials, how would it be paying lenders back? So far, Renewables.org has recorded no late payments and no defaults. The platform’s “My Rooftop” feature lets lenders visualize their own portfolio of solar projects around the world, making the impact tangible and personal.
People-Powered Climate Finance
The conversation closed on a broader theme: the power of individuals to do what governments and institutions have failed to do. With USAID gutted and the U.S. stepping back from global climate leadership, Renewables.org offers Americans — and anyone else — a way to run their own personal development aid program. As Premal noted, drops in the bucket are how buckets get filled. The same crowdsourced, people-to-people model that has outperformed government-to-government aid in contexts from microfinance to remittances is now available for the clean energy transition.
A Call to Action
The conversation concluded with Amber Ledbury highlighting Climate Action Now’s Planet Saving Subscriptions, starting at $9.95/month, a portion of which goes directly to Renewables.org to finance solar projects in the Global South. Attendees were also invited to the next Monthly Dose of Climate Hope event and a May 19th Action Party on Talking Climate in the Age of Disinformation, featuring climate communicators Katherine Hayhoe, Bernadette Woods-Placky, and moderator Jessica Craven.