Smart Villages in India

It is a sad truth that hundreds of millions of people still live without access to electricity in India. A list of 20 cities was announced to be developed into smart cities in India in January 2016. It has been mandated that 10% of the smart cities’ energy requirement will come from solar energy and at least 80% buildings should be energy efficient and green buildings. However according to Mr. Ashok Das, a green energy enthusiast and the CEO of Sunmoksha –

“Changing consumer behaviour in a big city is a major problem,” he says. “It will take decades to build smart cities, but I can get thousands of smart villages done in that time.”

Source: BBC

The company uses Smart NanoPower, a holistic solution specially designed to address the challenges of rural electrification in India. It is basically a smart grid technology that allows a village’s entire electrical infrastructure to be monitored remotely, powered by a cloud-based SaaS solution. A 30 kW solar plant is used to provide power.

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The company’s staff can remotely manage supply and demand requirements of the villagers. A language-independent mobile app is also developed for the villagers to monitor their consumption patterns, pay bills or lodge a complaint. They are also imparted training for minor repairs to the system. The villagers are charged based on their usage.

Also read about Solar Mini Grids in Indian Villages

Chhotkei a village in Odisha was the first smart village powered using this technology in India.

Because of the 24×7 monitoring access, it is actually possible to be aware of what is happening at the particular site, thus making the whole idea sustainable. Upendra Tripathy, secretary MNRE agreed to support 10 pilot projects by providing 30% of the funds. The remote monitoring makes the whole concept attractive, because it is imminent for the developers to monitor whether a particular set up is working or not. With India’s ambitious 100 GW solar installation target by 2022, it will make much sense if the Indian villages get power. And this technology surely looks promising!

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SunMoksha already won in the ‘Smart Village’ category at the 2016 Smart Cities India Awards. Not only this, the company is receiving offers to solarize different locations using its technology. For instance, the company has been asked to monitor if the railway stations could be developed into potential hubs for powering close dwellings and establishments. The technology is not just focusing on the power part, but can also be used to monitor water consumption and environmental factors governing agriculture. It will also improve the overall well-being of the villagers by paving the way towards applications like telemedicine and tele-education.

Also read Indian farmers to double their incomes with Solar Power.