Abstract for: Battery Refurbishment as a Systems Intervention in Community Solar Mini-Grid Operations

Community mini-grids are increasingly deployed to support rural electrification, yet many systems face operational challenges that affect long-term performance. In particular, disruptions in electricity reliability often influence user behaviour and financial processes, leading to instability in system operation. Understanding how operational interventions influence these interconnected dynamics can provide insights for improving system sustainability. This study adopts a case-based systems approach to examine a community solar mini-grid located in rural India. The analysis focuses on system behaviour before and after a battery refurbishment intervention. A causal loop diagram (CLD) is developed to represent interactions between battery performance, electricity supply, user behaviour, and revenue collection. The intervention is analysed as a change in system structure affecting these relationships Battery refurbishment restored functional storage capacity and improved electricity service reliability, increasing nighttime supply from 0 hours to 12 hours. The improved reliability enabled the resumption of regular electricity use and contributed to the reactivation of billing and revenue collection processes, which had been disrupted for an extended period. These changes indicate recovery across both technical and financial dimensions of system operation. The findings highlight that operational performance in community mini-grids emerges from interactions between technical, behavioural, and financial processes. Battery refurbishment functioned as an intervention that altered feedback relationships within the system, enabling a transition from a non-operational state to a recovery trajectory. While the intervention restored system functionality, it does not eliminate underlying degradation, indicating the need for future replacement and long-term planning.