App Overview: The Sakhi App – Enabling Rural Solar Entrepreneurship
The Sakhi App is a purpose-built mobile application designed to empower rural women entrepreneurs (“Solar Sakhis”) to manage and grow their solar energy businesses efficiently. It serves as an end-to-end digital platform that simplifies sales, service delivery, and financial tracking, especially for users with limited literacy or prior digital experience.
The app features a voice-assisted and pictorial interface, enabling intuitive navigation without reliance on text-heavy menus. This ensures accessibility for semi-literate and first-time smartphone users. Through visual icons and guided workflows, Sakhis can easily browse products, record sales, and manage customer interactions.
A key functionality of the app is revenue and transaction management. Sakhis can track their earnings through real-time commission updates, manage customer payments including installment-based purchases (EMIs), and maintain a digital record of all financial activities. This helps build transparency and financial confidence while reducing dependency on manual bookkeeping.
The app also supports service request management by notifying Sakhis of maintenance or repair needs. These service tasks are structured as paid opportunities, ensuring continued income beyond product sales. Additionally, a built-in customer database automatically tracks installation details, warranties, and service history.
The Sakhi App includes a comprehensive product catalog of solar solutions such as portable lighting, home systems, and livelihood-enhancing appliances. This enables Sakhis to demonstrate and sell products without needing to carry physical inventory.
Designed for rural environments, the app works in low-connectivity settings with offline functionality and periodic data syncing. By digitizing transactions and service records, the app also helps create a verifiable financial footprint, enabling access to formal credit systems.
Overall, the Sakhi App transforms rural solar distribution into a structured, scalable, and technology-enabled ecosystem led by women entrepreneurs.