GEDA: The Case

of Solar Cookers
Group 7: Anirudh|Harsh|Lalit|Pooja|Priyanka|Shipra

The Gujarat Energy Development Agency

Formed in 1979 by Government of Gujarat

Total expenditure on the projects undertaken
by GEDA was 600 lakh out of which only 9.5
lakh were spent on Solar Cooker project
Objectives of the Solar Cooker Programme
Macro Objective

To increase the use of solar energy by the

households(consuming 50% of the total
energy).
To promote the use of non depletable fuel
vis-vis depletable fuel
To substitute conventional, commercial/non
commercial sources of energy with nonconventional sources(solar) especially in
the household sector

Micro Objective
To provide the
consumer with a
cleaner, safer, more
nutritious and more
economical mode of
cooking compared to
the existing modes

Solar Cooker Project

Sales Performance
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0

Price

The existing product

Aesthetically not appealing
Very heavy and hence difficult to
carry the cooker
Wheels and stand provided to make
cooking more convenient

375

400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

300
200

300

300

375

375

375

Extent of Energy Saving

Extent of energy saving very difficult to

determine due to its dependency on the
usage of solar cooker(no of meals per annum,
etc)
On an average, 2 LPG cylinders could be
saved per annum per family if Solar Cooker is
Users of Solar Cooker
Savings
per annum
used
along
with LPG
9%
43%
48%

Solar Cooker+LPG

20%

Rs 81
Rs 117
Rs 150

40%

40%

Solar
Cooker+Kerosene
Solar
Cooker+Firewood

Problems and Prospects of Solar Cooker

Advantages
Both the advantages and disadvantages depend on two types
of factors External (environment)
Internal ( product)
Saves Energy
Solar cooker leads to
energy saving at both
national and family level

Convenience
Often more convenient
than Kerosene or wood
since they are not always
available

Health
Food cooked in solar cooker is more
nutritious and retains more food value.
this is because the cooking takes
place at low temperatures and cooking
process is slow.

Problems and Prospects of Solar Cooker

Disadvantages
Availability of sunlight

Unfamiliar technology

Can be used only when

solar insolation is sufficient.
A south facing terrace is
needed for adequate sun
rays.
The average usage of
solar cooker was 5.2 month
in the year.
Cooking Time

The cooking activity has to be carried out

in the open hence it forces consumer to
change his behavior
It also requires change in cooking
method- eg add less of water, not to open
the lid when the cooking is in progress.

The intensity of thermal energy

is not as high as in the case of
LPG stove or other heaters, hence
cooking takes much longer.
Cooking can only be done in the
day time, depending on sun.
This reduces flexibility to cook
and dictates for preplanned
cooking.

Limited
application

Can only be used

for low temperature
applications.
Solar cooker
cannot be used for
frying purpose or
for preparing rotis

Product
features

it lacks
aesthetic
appeal.
it uses
Aluminium
containers
which are not
considered
safe to cook.

Manufacturing

GEDA had a list of 10 manufacturers from

whom it procured solar cookers.
Problems of manufacturers

Because of many manufacturers it was difficult for

a single manufacturer to attain break even.
Absence of yearly targets had encouraged
unorganized manufacturer to enter ( fixed costs
were low)
Consumer might lose due to low quality ( but
probably this was GEDAs intention as per
manufacturer)

Inspection and Quality control

There were numerous consumer complaints as

regards to quality. Hence quality was of
considerable importance.

Competition, Buyer Behavior

Competition

Pricing policy had a direct

implication on competition
No necessity to get permission
for marketing of cookers
GEDA & DNES approved cookers
were entitled to subsidy
So approval necessary to run a
profitable concern
Acted as a barrier to entry
At generic level
Introduction of second LPG
cylinder policy
Availability of conventional fuelfirewood, cow dung, etc.
These are likely to affect sales of
solar cookers

Buyer Behavior
Change Behavior

Unplanned Activity

Cooking is not always a planned activity

Solar cooking needed consumer to cook
at specific times making it difficult to use

Recipe Book

Cooking is mostly secretive, confined to

household
Solar cooking needed to done outside in
open

Women might not like being given tips

on cooking, might lead to initial
problems and might discourage them
from further use

Savings

People who are ready to invest Rs 375

might not be concerned about savings
Consumers thought of devices first and
savings later

Target Market, Segmentation & Positioning

Target Market

All people/households who use

conventional energy sources

Specifically, the ones having inclination

to economize on their fuel bill and
having direct insolation of sun

Market research findings

Typical owner- higher secondary

education or more

Mostly urban Medium & large sized

families

Lower & middle class income groups

Segmentation

Pricing was only segmentation

variable used

Differential pricing due to differential

subsidy

Fuel saving & Urge to satisfy

innovativeness was most important
factors influencing the purchase

Positioning
No deliberate positioning strategy
presently at place
Market research indicates it has been use
as a supplementary product, used more
often with LPG
Discriminatory pricing
Economically

backward areas, IREP, IREC

offered 75% subsidy
Educational institutions given 90% subsidy to
make children aware
Reports suggest subsidy has given it a negative
image & low cost didnt enthuse customers to
use the product
Comparison
with

Experiments

other types of cooking (saucepan, pressure)

on dimensions like doneness, flavour, color,
nutrient retention, etc.
Experiments confirmed loss of nutrients while
cooking is minimum in solar cooking
with other fuels have concluded that Solar
cooker was better on Cleanliness, safety and
nutrient retention while lower on efficiency

Distribution

Till 1984-85, GEDA were distributing product themselves

Build a network of 65 dealers by 1987-88 ( 4 in 1984-85)
Very elaborate and demanding criteria for appointing dealers,
prompting aversion from good dealers
Promotion costs shared by GEDA

cookers

amount(Rs.)

1 to 125

50

Varied commission policy

126 to 250
Different rates on subsidy cookers 251 and

Rs. 15 per 1000 newspaper handbills, 50% of exhibition costs and

60% of advertisement costs
No. of
Commission
65
75

above

Rs. 20 for 90% subsidy cooker and Rs. 50 for other 2 types
If voluntary agency involved, commission split equally

Varying sales between dealers

Eight dealers account more than half of total sales

3 dealers sold above 250, one above 125 and 22 dealers couldnt
sell even one

Advertising & sales promotion

Focus on promotion & demonstrations rather than advertising
Advertising not followed because they want to increase
awareness about positive aspects of the product selectively
Advertisement might cause consumers to expect more and
prematurely kill the product
Media
Newspapers and magazine (limited)
Promotional leaflets, hoardings, bus panels, posters, etc.
Exhibitions & demonstrations key components of promotional
program
Message
Recipe book, to educate how and what to be cooked
Solar cooker patrika, as a medium of education and feedback
Speculated that transfer of technology might not be actually
taking place

Diffusion of Solar Cookers

What is Diffusion? It is a process by which an innovation is communicated

through certain channels over time among the members of a social system

Innovation

Communication Channels

Social Systems

In this case innovation is

the solar cooker. The 5
characteristics of innovation
are given as under Relative Advantage: It
saves fuel and provides a
clean and convenient way of
cooking.
However it is not
Compatible with the
current value system of
cooking because cooking
does not take place outside.
Complexity: It is
somewhat difficult for them
to understand method of
cooking because it requires
less of water and oil etc.
Trial ability is difficult.
Obervability: It is easier,

The most effective

communication strategy used
to showcase the benefits of
Solar Cookers is by
demonstration.
Demonstrations makes it
easy for consumers to
understand the products
benefits better
Opinion leaders who owns
and understands the product
well can use interpersonal
channel to persuade non-users
to use the product
Early Adopters who are
homophilous to the target
group can persuade non users
to buy the product
Mass media channels are
helpful only for well educated

Social System can be

broadly divided into two
groups- Urban and Rural
Urban consumers
generally prefer to cook
inside the kitchen
however rural
consumers are more
open to the idea of
outdoor cooking
Opinion leaders for both
the groups possess
different qualities

Time

It is an important
aspect of diffusion
process. It does not exist
independently, but is an
aspect of every activity

Distribution Channel ahead

Total talukas = 184
Large districts with poor
sales

Rural Distribution
1

Urban Distribution

Existing
strategy
and
current dealer network to
distribute the cooker in
urban areas
While awareness is created
in
talukas
using
govt.
admins aid and opinion
leaders, push the cooker
through dealers

Moderate cost of adding rural market to the distribution

Product penetration is expected to be superficial as
diffusion of an innovative product would take a long time
to diffuse in rural market
So a conservative estimate of total sales in 10 years in all
the talukas would be 14000
Awareness programs using mobile vans and other govt.
agencies would be required
Incentivizing actual users to bring sales lead to dealers,
and creating volunteering individuals to spread the
awareness

Collaborate with govt. admin

e.g. Collector to get access to
talukas and push 50-100
cookers in each taluka
Conventional alternatives that
will compete with solar cooker
are free firewood, dung fuel,
etc. but there are issues like
safety, pollution, extreme hot
weather. Creating awareness
about the innovative product
through
existing
governmental workforce like
Aanganwadi
which
have
better reach in rural areas, on
grounds of nutrition care can
Currently
dealer
reach in
build curiosity
and demand
rural areas is not substantial,
and willingness to pay may be
less, so community solar
cookers
can
be
sold
subsidized in partnership with
local admin to joint familiesprevalent in rural scenario

Marketing Strategy: Mass or Concentrated

The marketing strategy will depend upon the region

Urban
The marketing strategy should
be targeted towards the
medium & large sized families
& economically from lower &
middle class income groups
Advertise through mass media
such as newspapers &
magazines focusing on the fuel
saving & innovativeness of the
product
Since the people are not aware
of its availability, promotional
leaflets with nearest dealer
details should be distributed
Demonstration at exhibitions
should be done
Demonstration & point of sale
marketing should be done by
dealers

Rural
The marketing strategy in Rural
areas would be more
concentrated, targeting large
villages & families of land
owners, shopkeepers & service
occupation
Demonstration with focus on
opinion leaders to educate,
create favourable attitude &
conviction
- Head of the village
- Aanganwadi
Use of non conventional media
such as demonstration at haats
and fairs & puppet shows to
make people aware about the
benefits & convenience

Branding

Branding- Not Essential in the case of GEDA!

We come to the above conclusion owing to the
two major reasons
GEDA sells Solar Cookers
through subsidy

GEDA does not necessarily face

competition from other external
organizations

Also since GEDA performs exceptionally well in

Inspecting and Controlling the quality of the
product:
The alternative solution we suggest is to Distribute
GEDAs Solar Cooker with GEDA Holograms- in
order to achieve product identification and
certifying standard

R&D vs Status Quo

Go for R&D and Value Engineering in long term halt R&D

expenses in short run
Strategic partnership with one of the manufacturer E ,
(Exhibit 7) consistently effective sales and capacity, locate
R&D in the manufacturers premises. Information symmetry
will maintain a fit between technological capability of the
manufacturer and the evolving R&D design
If R&D is stopped in the short run GEDA will have large cash
reserve for carrying out better awareness campaigns, to
hasten diffusion of solar cooker in the rural market as
people are still not aware of the innovation
90 % of people at this point of time are satisfied with
GEDAs solar cooker, so can go with current product &
invest later in R & D

Pricing

They should continue with Subsidy based pricing

strategy

Difficult to convince people to try an innovative product like

Solar cooker at Higher Price

Different subsidies & prices as per defined category is right

approach as everyone dont have the same purchasing power

Subsidy in Normal category can be reduced further to avoid the

negative image created by the subsidy.

Promotion should be such that the subsidy

provided is for a limited period of time
Government should ensure no fraudulent
practices are followed through strict background
checking

Long Term Strategy

Increase

the reach in Rural Market

Research & development should be focused on so as to improve the
product features & benefits like aesthetic appeal & material used.
The number of manufacturers should be reduced so that they can
reach break even sales faster & competition from unorganized
manufacturers can be avoided which is affecting quality of the product
Research & Development should be done in consultation with the
manufacturer
The dealer contract can be modified by relaxing some of the norms
such as stocking of at least 10 solar cookers because dealers do not
have too much of space
Increase the number of dealers in better performing areas such as
Ahmedabad which is among top two districts in terms of sale but has
only 7 dealers as of now
User lead marketing programs for influencing purchasing by others as
actual users are more effective in influencing a purchase rather than
current sales & promotion

Thank You !!