Dushanbe residents launch the “Dushanbe Solar City” campaign to crowdfund solar panels for the first electric car to run the streets of the city as a food truck, serving locally produced, fresh and healthy snacks, in a unique effort to promote the use of renewable energy.

The Association of Energy Professionals, FLEX Alumni community and other partners joined forces to collect 12,000 US dollars for the purchase and installation of 4,3kW array of solar PV system on the roof of the food truck, provided with support from the private sector.

Dushanbe has significant capacity to utilize solar energy as it enjoys over 300 sunny days a year. The truck will operate in the city generating clean photovoltaic electricity and will be equipped with USB terminals and sockets to charge gadgets, and access to free internet connection.

Supported by OFID funded “Energy Access SME Development” project implemented by UNDP, Dushanbe Mayor’s office, private sector, and local community this campaign aims to demonstrate innovative example of what citizens, businesses and governments can do to tackle climate change and build resilient future.

The number of green zones in Dushanbe is increasing, but so is the use of ground transportation, which leads to significant air pollution and greenhouse gases. 80 percent of total air emissions in the city are associated with transport sources, the main consumers of non-renewable fuel.

To tackle these challenges, a group of likeminded people created an ambitious plan to promote solutions to improve the city’s environment and reduce carbon emissions.

People can support the campaign by making their contributions on the UK based crowdfunding platform Spacehive here: https://www.spacehive.com/dushanbe-solar-city#/idea . A large portion of the funds has already been collected with support from the Committee of youth and tourism, ministry of industry and new technologies, and other partners.

This campaign was designed with support from UNDP AltFinLab, run from UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub: http://altfinlab.org/blog/cities-unite-to-start-solar-revolution-through-crowdfunding

Dushanbe Solar City campaign updates are also available here: https://www.facebook.com/Dushanbe.Solar.City/

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The initiative is a part of the Solar Cities project, which aims to boost solar energy projects and citizen involvement in the energy transition in Serbia, Tajikistan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.

Crowdfunding represents an alternative way of raising funds via the Internet, in the form of a large number of small donations from around the world. Spacehive is a platform based in United Kingdom that helps people raise money for projects that bring civic or community spaces to life.