Solar Home Lighting Systems

Project Details

Wayanad

district is one of the 90 most backward districts in India. 这个地区的人们主要靠农业谋生，近 17.5 % of the local population are indigenous people. 有在该地区许多远偏僻的小村庄没有电力供应系统的连接. 这些村庄往往是孤立的，位于丘陵和/或林区. The residents depend on fuels like kerosine or candles to at least bearly illuminate their houses. But the lack of electricity is also an isolating and inhibiting factor itself in that it prevents them from using modern communication technologies like mobile phones or even home appliances as well as it hinders students to study in the evening – just to mention a few consequences.

Project Description

Electricity networks in Wayanad are located around major urban centers. 一些农村地区和地势偏远，使电力供应这些地区的扩张很难通过一个集中的电网系统. 有, therefore, an urgent need to explore renewable, 可以保持在一个分散化水平和土著社区和贫困人口得到可持续的替代能源. 太阳能被认为是最重要的农村能源来源. Consequently, there is a huge potential for solar energy development. 但也出现了一些关键的障碍，这种障碍在过去类似的技术初始成本高, the absence of technology service providers and a lack of support from the central energy ministries.

The innovative approach of barefoot college has demonstrated the effective application of solar energy in rural areas. The barefoot concept involves community level capacity building in installation and maintenance of solar systems through a network of rural electricity workshops and trained barefoot solar engineers. Those engineers are working as electricity entrepreneurs in remote villages and are trained to assemble and maintain complete solar photovoltaic systems.

Based on survey data, two panchayaths of Wayanad, namely Meppadi and Noolpuzha, were identified to be the least developed in Wayanad, with a huge number of families settling in forest areas without any electrical connection. Those villagers, a lot of whom indigenous people living below the poverty line, had to depend on fuels like kerosene to illuminate their houses.

Two young indigenous women from Wayanad were trained for 6 months by Barefoot College in 2014 安装太阳能系统. 自今年一月 2015, 145 solar systems were installed by the solar engineers even in the remotest areas of both panchayaths.

But our mission is by far not completed yet. During recent field visits to other remote areas near Muttil, we have located further households to be equipped with solar systems soon.