In line with the IEEE vision to advance technology for humanity, the IEEE Delhi Section Executive Committee and Delhi Section SIGHT organized a visit to a rural village which technologies are not as advance as urban areas. The first visit took place on 4th October 2017 and was successful in surveying the needs of village. This is repeat visit to same village that took place on 8th September 2018 to give villagers real exposure to Solar micro power plant.
A team of 10 young IEEE Volunteers led by Mr. Ravindra Joshi, IEEE Delhi Section SIGHT & HTC visited Girdharpur village near Hapur district, NCT, Uttar Pradesh State with a goal of installing 2 nos micro off grid Solar power units. The team was able to get a clear insight into the real-daily life problems faced by the rural community. According to the on-ground research, the team was able to understand certain basic problems such as energy supply and how solar power can penetrate villages.
The team went around the village talking to villagers and after that was done, under Leadership of Mr. Ravindra Joshi, the team selected 2 houses for installing 1 no. 100 W and 1 no. 5 W off grid nano solar power units.
The first unit of 100 W unit is sufficient to light 2 LED lamps, run a TV, do mobile charging, and run a fan. The unit comes with a battery backup and can last 7 to 8 hrs on battery. The selected house belongs to a poor laborer family. The family has 3 children who are studying in Class 5, 2 and pre-school. The village is electrified but there are power interruptions. During power interruptions, the lack of proper lighting disables the family from performing necessary tasks such as studying for the children and cooking for the caretakers. Now, this nano power unit will light the house during power interruption and children will be able to study and caretakers able to cook safely.
The second unit of 5 W is sufficient to light 2 LED lamps of 2 W each and can do mobile charging. The house belongs to a man who has never seen a light bulb in his house, ever. After sunset, his house is completely dark and the only source of light is an oil lamp. Now, his house will be well lit with 2 LED lamps which will be a significant change in his life. The Solar unit installed in his house has a battery backup that can last 7 to 8 hrs on battery. The house owner is a poor laborer and lives with his old mother. Now, this nano power unit will light the house during sunset hours and the home owner and his mother can see their house light up like the rest of the world.
The visit and project is highly successful and will become a pilot for future planning for similar poor rural houses in India and abroad. The model can be extended to about a billion people living in rural areas across the world, bulk of them in India, Africa and other under developed and developing countries. In many cases there is no access to electricity and these nano solar grids can be a good source of power.
Please see link below giving good data about “no access to electricity”.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2013/06/where-billion-people-still-live-without-electricity/5807/
An interactive session was also done with villagers about their lives and daily routines. Thanks to Dr. Priyanka Rathee and Volunteers Yashraj, Sidhanth for helping in running the awareness session for women and men respectively.
A big thank you to Dr Subrata Mukhopadhyay, Dr K. Subramanian, Chair IEEE Delhi Section and Dr M. N. Hoda for supporting the initiative and for approving the visit.