What sectors does Growthifye cover?

We work across the clean-energy value chain — utility-scale solar and wind, battery energy storage (BESS), power transmission networks, and the green financing structures that fund them.

Do you handle both engineering and financing?

Yes. Our differentiator is combining engineering-led advisory and EPC with an in-house green financing and debt syndication desk, so technical and financial workstreams stay aligned all the way to financial close.

Can you support transmission and grid connection?

Absolutely. We engineer HV substations and transmission lines, run grid connection and evacuation studies, and manage the interface with utilities and grid operators.

What does green financing include?

Sustainability-linked loans, green debt, blended finance and non-recourse project finance — structured, syndicated and negotiated to secure competitive, long-tenor capital.

How do we start working with you?

Share your project or mandate through the contact form or WhatsApp. We'll set up a discovery call and outline a tailored engagement across advisory, engineering, EPC or financing.

NGO Advisory & Funding

Landmark project · India · Skilling

Barefoot College

Solar engineers programmeTilonia, Rajasthan

Training rural grandmothers as solar engineers across 90 countries — capacity-building that funders love and communities own.

Footage · Barefoot College International · YouTube

Key numbers

90+

Countries reached

training extended across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Pacific

approx. 3,000+

Women trained

as solar engineers since programme inception

6 months

Training duration

residential, hands-on, non-literate friendly curriculum

1972

Founded

Barefoot College established in Tilonia, Rajasthan

1989

Solar programme start

first cohort of women solar engineers trained

approx. 1 million+

Lives touched

estimated beneficiaries of solar-lit homes

Timeline

1972
Barefoot College founded in Tilonia by Bunker Roy, focused on rural self-reliance and appropriate technology.
1989
First rural women trained on-site as solar engineers, using colour-coded, non-literate-friendly technical training.
2008
Government and international donor partnerships expand the Solar Mamas programme's reach and funding base (approx.).
2011
Bunker Roy's TED talk brings global visibility; programme becomes a widely cited grassroots skilling model.
2015
Programme footprint approx. crosses 80 countries across Africa, Asia, Pacific and Latin America.
2019
Barefoot College International formalised as a separate global entity extending the training model worldwide.

Why it matters

Barefoot College's Tilonia model trained rural, often non-literate grandmothers as solar engineers, electrifying remote villages across 90+ countries. For Indian developers, lenders and utilities it demonstrates that last-mile RE assets survive only when local communities own operation and maintenance — a lesson directly relevant to mini-grids, rooftop rollouts and PM-KUSUM pumps in remote, low-literacy geographies where formal technician supply is thin.

The India angle

India's Suryamitra scheme, Skill Council for Green Jobs and NISE build rooftop/utility technician capacity, but PM-KUSUM, RDSS and mini-grid tenders in remote districts still lack local O&M plans. Lenders and DISCOMs now ask for community caretaker structures and CSR-funded skilling in bids — echoing Tilonia's train-the-local-woman, franchise-hub, micro-fee model.

What it teaches

Engineering, procurement and finance lessons

Local ownership beats remote O&M

Village-selected, community-trusted operators—rather than externally posted technicians—kept small solar systems running for years. For Indian mini-grid and rooftop tenders, embedding a trained local caretaker with a clear maintenance mandate materially cuts downtime and truck-rolls in remote or tribal blocks.

Design training for the workforce you actually have

Curriculum built around colour codes, symbols and practical assembly—not written manuals—let non-literate trainees master wiring, battery charging and fault-finding. EPCs bidding into last-mile electrification or PM-KUSUM pump tenders can replicate this to widen the technician pool beyond ITI graduates.

Choose trainees for retention, not just aptitude

Selecting older women, unlikely to migrate for work, gave villages a stable, long-term technical resource. Workforce planning for decentralised RE assets should weight retention likelihood alongside technical aptitude when structuring skilling contracts tied to asset lifetimes.

Micro-revenue models sustain rural assets

Village committees collecting small monthly fees for system upkeep created a locally accountable funding loop for spares and repairs. This is a directly usable template for structuring community tariff or micro-fee components within mini-grid and off-grid PPAs financed by lenders and green funds.

Centralised hubs can scale a decentralised model

Regional training centres replicated the Tilonia curriculum globally without diluting quality, showing that standardised, franchise-style training hubs—rather than one-off vendor training—are what let skilling survive multi-state or multi-country rollout.

Sources · Barefoot College · TED · United Nations (UN Women) · Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) · BBC

How Growthifye helps

Design last-mile O&M and community-caretaker frameworks for mini-grid, rooftop and PM-KUSUM tenders aligned with Suryamitra/Skill Council benchmarks.
Structure CSR and green-finance-backed skilling programmes that lenders can underwrite alongside decentralised RE asset financing.
Advise EPCs and DISCOMs on low-literacy-friendly training curricula and micro-fee revenue models to cut rural asset downtime and O&M NPAs.

Explore NGO Advisory & Funding Talk to our engineers

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