Millions of people die each year as a result of indoor air pollution caused by the combustion of traditional fuels used for cooking, heating and lighting.

[check quotation syntax] Current CEO and co-founder Manoj Sinha, named one of the 2022 Global Energy Elites[9] and Meaningful Business 100[10] for his pioneering work, was responsible for evolving Husk's approach to take advantage of the steep decline in solar prices.

Pandey focused on the development of the circuitry that would allow the systems to most efficiently generate power, working with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to optimize the gasifier to use rice husks alone, then using the output of the gasifier to fuel a generator and assembling a crude local power distribution network that they built for the village of Tamkuha, which went live in August 2007.

[6] Unlike solar home systems that provide basic services like lighting and phone charging, Husk Power serves the entire rural economy, with mini-grids at the center of the company's business model.

It serves both completely rural off-grid areas, which have in the past only been able to use diesel generation to power their businesses and livelihoods, and it serves weak grid areas where the main grid (distribution companies or power utilities often referred to as "Discoms" in India, and "Discos" in Africa) provide unreliable and/or poor quality connections.

The company has integrated internet of things (IoT) and machine learning into its infrastructure, which allows for largely automated operations as well as demand forecasting.

The electricity generated is able to power the needs of an entire community, including commercial and household demand, as well as "productive use" applications such as drinking water filtration and bottling, grain milling, welding, cold chain, etc.

Based on experience in India and Nigeria, customers that switch from diesel generation to solar power from the mini-grids save about 30% on the monthly energy bill.

Payment is made digitally, thought the company's app, called Huskify, which also allows customers to see their energy usage in real time.

Each microgrid connects hundreds of customers, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), households and institutions such as schools and health clinics, and benefits thousands more, through street lighting and other community-based services.

The company is also planning further expansion to additional states in India, as well as other countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, where the combination of power shortages in rural areas and availability of ample sunshine and/or waste rice husks make the generating systems an effective solution.