A small Indian village in the northeast of the country, with the help of Greenpeace, is now meeting all of its own energy requirements with solar, after 30 years of apparent neglect from the government.

Dharnai village in the state of Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, now sources its power from a solar micro-grid. Bihar currently has at least 19,000 other villages, or 82 per cent of the population, which do not receive reliable power from the traditional grid-based system and still lack access to electricity.

The 100-kilowatt (kW) system in Dharnai powers the 450 homes of the 2,400 residents, 50 commercial operations, two schools, a training centre and a health care facility. A battery backup ensures power around the clock.

This includes 70 kW for electricity generation and 30 kW for 10 solar-powered water-pumping systems with three horsepower each. The system was built within three months and has been on a test-run since March.

indiasolar copy

This village, which is 100 per cent solar powered, is a first for India. Greenpeace says it required a heterogeneous village for this project where agriculture was the main occupation also with basic social infrastructure like school, healthcare facility, an anganwadi (communal childcare centre), a commercial zone […]