7/30/2019 Vivekananda Kendra Prashikshan Aur Seva Prakalpa
Pivotal Role in Renewable Energy in 32 Village
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RE Feature
17December 2012
Volume 6 Issue 3
ANANT B. TAMHANE
SOLAR LAMPS FOR
HOMES IN MAHARASHTRA
Pitch darkness and unpaved roads lead us to this tinyvillage in
India sheltering a community o tribal
amilies. With no grid-power access villagers have
learnt to make most o the daylight, using kerosene
(available through the public distribution system) uelled
lamps only during the hours o utmost necessity. Nothing
A study of 32 tribal villages of Pimplad, Maharashtra, shows
that the solar lamp
is the most sought after renewable energy gadget. The study also
revealed that
proper training of each beneficiary family and the provision of
a dependable, low
cost and easily accessible facility for repairs and maintenance
ensures that the
lamps continue to remain in regular use.
has changed or them as their liestyle has remained thesame over
the centuries. The boon o electricity that
urban areas take or granted, is oten a distant dream or
the rural populace. However eforts are being made by the
Government both central and state, to bring about a change.
A step in that direction has been taken by the Vivekananda
Children Studying Under theSolar Lamps
Fig 1. Children at Pimpladstudying under the solar lamp
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RE Feature
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Volume 6 Issue 3
Kendra Prashikshan aur Seva Prakalpa (Vivekananda Kendra
or Training and Service Project). Under its Project or
Renewable Energy Intervention or Rural Development, 32
villages were selected around Pimplad in the Trimbakeshwar
Taluk o Nasik district in Maharashtra (Table 1).
Mode of ImplementationAll the selected villages were airly large
in size and
comprised o a ew hamlets each. The houses were scattered
and in general, located on armlands. Although a network
o motorable roads connected the hamlets, however a ew
hamlets could be accessed only by oot (~300 m) and were
thereore not covered under the state electricity board
supply. Thus, around 50 per cent o the houses had no access
to electricity supply rom the Maharashtra State Electricity
Board (MSEB). The electrified villages also did not have
uninterrupted power supply with outages lasting over 18
hours a day.Solar lamps were selected as one o the important
renewable energy gadgets or intervention. The village olk
were, in general, resource poor. Most o them did not have
ready cash to purchase these new gadgets. Also efective
training or proper operation and maintenance o the
new devices was the other important aspect that had to
be considered. Keeping this in view and to ensure that the
solar lamps provided to the villagers render satisactory
service over their normal lie span, the ollowing guidelines
were adopted or selecting the beneficiaries: (1) Households
which were either not covered by the MSEB or were unable
to avail the connection were given priority; and (2) Full
cost
o the solar lamps was met rom the project budget o
EVEFoundation, Mumbai which worked in co-ordination with
the Vivekananda Kendra. The Vanavasi tribal community
selected or the distribution are mainly cultivators and
labourers (Fig. 2). The project also taught the beneactors
how to repair solar lamps using LED technology. In all
4500 solar lamps were distributed in 32 tribal villages
since
September 2010 (Fig. 3).
The solar lamp configurationLantern mode -Ten LEDs are used to
light up a room. Itprovides 16 hours o service.
Turbo mode - Ten LED light up to the very bright mode
which allows it to be used as a desk lamp or reading. It can
be used or 4 hours in this mode.
Torch mode - Out o ten LEDs only two light up. It can be
used as a night lamp too and can provide 16 hours o service.
All the above three acilities are available on a single
switch.
In the turbo mode solar lamps provide 200 per cent brighter
light than a kerosene lamp.
Vivekananda Kendra Prashikshanand Seva PrakalpaThe training
centre covers a project area o several remotetribal villages and
small padas. The Vanvasi tribal community
inhabiting these areas are deprived o education, health care
and employment. To carry orward the great vision o Swami
Vivekananda the Kendra was first launched in Kanyakumari
in 1972. The branches then spread over the arthest and
inaccessible areas o the country to be silently engaged in
the
task o nation building with the theme serve man- serve God.
The work undertaken in Pimplad, actualises the messages
o Swamiji. Balwadi, anandalaya, vivekashram, aarogya seva,
shramdaan shibirs, vocational training and mahila jagran are
some o the activities undertaken or the Vanavasi villages.
The Vivekananda Kendra Prashikshan Seva Prakalpa alsopropagates
the use o biogas and are evolving a programme
or biodiesel. Use o Kandi-coal is also propagated. The
Vivekananda Kendras Natural Resources Development
project known as VK-NARDEP has been working or more
than 25 years in the field o sustainable development. Its
work in renewable energy has even won the organisation the
prestigious international ASHDEN award.
In conclusionThe salient points that emerged during the
implementation o
Table 1. Background of Project Area
Particulars Pimplad
Bramha-
nwada Sapgaon Amboli Aambai
Population 1500 1000 1200 2000 1100
No. of households
350 250 270 325 150
Area under
farming(in hectares)
85 65 75 70 30
Major crop Rice and Nachani only, grown from rain water
Energysource
Few diesel and electric pumps for lifting water fromrivers and
ground water from open wells
Fig 2. The villagers filling up forms to avail the solar
lamp
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Pivotal Role in Renewable Energy in 32 Village
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RE Feature
19December 2012
Volume 6 Issue 3
the solar lamps project in the selected villages are as
ollows:
Solar lanterns are one o the most efective and sought
ater RE gadgets in the villages.
There is a need to adequately train the adults o each
beneficiary amily in order to ensure satisactoryperormance o the
gadget.
The quantity and reliability o materials used to create the
solar lamp ought to be excellent or the smooth running o
the gadget.
Dependable, low cost and easily accessible systems or
repairs and maintenance are a must in order to ensure that
the solar lamps continue to remain in regular use.
Ater a very long wait there is now some light in the lives
o the villagers o Pimplad - all due to the newly installed
solar lamps. Ater darkness alls children are now ound
huddled around solar lamps - studying. Women visit one
anothers house more requently with the quarters being
lighted up. With working hours extended, women are nowperorming
various household chores like stitching and
cooking under the illumination o the reliable solar light.
Men too are involving themselves in productive activities by
settling arming material (such as produce in godowns, seed/
sapling procurement etc.) and holding meetings with senior
members to exchange agriculture related know-how. Aboveall
people are saving the money that was spent on kerosene
and are not being subject to indoor pollution too.
The author is an Engineer Consultant in Renewable
Energy,Vidharbha, Maharashtra, email : [email protected]
Fig 3. Villagers and trainers in Pimplad
There has been consistent increase in the pace of renewable
energy development and the sector has grown at
an annual rate of 23 per cent rising from about 3900 MW in
2002-2003 to about 26,137 MW in September 2012.Wind energy
continues to dominate Indias renewable energy industry, accounting
for 70 per cent of installed
capacity (18,192 MW), followed by small hydropower (3,447 MW),
biomass power (3,359 MW) and solar power
(1045 MW). In terms of electricity generation, with normative
capacity utilisation factors, the renewable
power installed capacity is generating around 50 BU per year
corresponding to about 6.5 per cent in the total
electricity mix and 12.5 per cent of total capacity in
2011-2012. Off grid applications of renewable energy have
also made significant headway.
AT A GLANCERenewable Energy in India
Source : MNRE
