SOLAR ELECTRIFICATION OF REMOTE INACCESSIBLE VILLAGES: THE BAREFOOT APPROACH

Transcription

1 SOLAR ELECTRIFICATION OF REMOTE INACCESSIBLE VILLAGES: THE BAREFOOT APPROACH Bunker Roy Anil Joshi The Barefoot College Tilonia , Madanganj, Ajmer District, Rajasthan, INDIA. ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates how solar electrification of remote villages can be successfully implemented in a sustainable manner by actively involving the local communities and by enabling the rural poor to fabricate and take care of the entire solar electrification setup on their own. As a result of this project, the quality of life has improved and, at the same time, the damage to the environment has greatly reduced. 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The solar electrification project started in 1989 by the Barefoot College, Tilonia, India. As a part of this project, remote villages in India, that did not have access to electricity, were selected for solar electrification. More importantly, what makes this project sustainable is the process being followed. Instead of sending paper qualified engineers from the cities to install the solar units in the villages, it involves preparation of the communities to accept, understand and own the technology. The idea is that the solar units would function without external help from the engineers. The community identifies the poorest semiliterate and unemployed youth in the village to be trained as a Barefoot Solar Engineer. This youth is trained for 6 months to fabricate, install, repair and maintain the entire setup on his own. It is the responsibility of government to provide the hardware. It is the responsibility of the community to contribute financially to the repair and maintenance of the units. A committee comprising of users from the village itself monitors the performance and effectiveness of the Barefoot Solar Engineer. Women are given equal representation in the entire process. All these factors made this project not only successful but also self- sufficient. Starting 1989, this project has been implemented in 140 villages across India till A total of 273 KWp of solar capacity was installed during this period. Since then, work on solar electrification has continued on- demand basis and another 107 KWp of solar capacity has been installed till now. 1.1 Project goal and objective a. The goal is to solar electrify all the remote inaccessible non- electrified villages in the country. b. The objective is to put the fabrication, installation, repair and maintenance of solar technology in the management, supervision and control of rural communities so that they are totally self sufficient and not dependent, technically or financially, on anybody from outside. 1.2 Benefits from the project a. The INTENDED IMMEDIATE EFFECT is more about confidence building than about capacity building. It is to demonstrate that any remote non- electrified village can be solar electrified and maintained by semiliterate men and women by themselves. This has been done for the last 10 years. b. The EXPECTED BENEFITS are i) a massive reduction in the use of fossil fuels thus improving the environment ii) fully self sufficient solar electrified villages iii) a fundamental change in the policy of the Government of India resulting in it officially adopting the barefoot approach.

2 c. The IMPROVEMENTS due to the project will be in the quality of life of the rural poor. Solar energy will meet their basic needs like lighting, cooking and heating. 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Community- managed approach The Barefoot approach is a community-managed approach. First a Village Energy and Environment Committee (VEEC) is formed by the village community itself. Women are given equal representation on the VEEC. The VEEC holds a meeting to take two decisionsa) How much is the individual family prepared to pay per month for the use of the solar units b) Identify the poorest unemployed youth (male or female) who is semi-literate (usually 5th-6th standard of rural schooling) and who has roots in the village to be sent for training at The Barefoot College, India. The unemployed semi-literate youth comes to the Barefoot College for a 6 months training. The youth receives practical training ina) fabrication of the electronic components required for the circuit b) installation of complete solar units along with the deep cycle batteries c) establishing a Rural Electronic Workshop for repair and maintenance in the village. After the training, the "barefoot" solar engineer (BSE) has the capacity and competence to solar electrify each and every house in the village that he/she comes from. For a group of villages, a Rural Electronic Workshop (REW) is established in one of the villages that is accessible from all the other villages. The REW is established by a BSE. This will enable him/her to carry out all the repair and maintenance of any unit in the close by villages within hours of the complaint. The VEECs discourage economically powerful or politically vested interests in the village from affecting the project or the functioning of the BSEs. The costs involved in employing the BSEs and in maintaining the solar units are also met from resources within the community through monthly contributions. VEECs ensure that the BSEs are able to collect the monthly installments regularly and monitor the funds. This makes the solar electrified village self- sufficient technically and financially. TABLE 1: COMMUNITY MANAGED MAINTENANCE VEECs formed (Nos.) 139 Male BSEs trained (Nos.) 134 Female BSEs trained (Nos.) 75 REW established (Nos.) 16 User's contribution in Bank A/Cs (Indian Rupees) 1,316, Barefoot women engineers 75 women BSEs have demystified Solar Technology and brought the benefits of sophisticated technology to Mahatma Gandhi's Last Man in the villages of India. That they are semi-literate has not in any way disqualified them from being solar engineers. After being selected by the village community, because they are poor and living below the poverty line, within 6 months at the Barefoot College, they have acquired the competence and confidence to fabricate, install, repair and maintain the most sophisticated of solar units. The idea is that after the training they are in a position to solar electrify each and every house in their village, thus establishing their credibility in the eyes of each family in the village. These families are obliged to pay a monthly contribution for the stipend, repair and maintenance of the units. What this approach has established is that it is essential that the community is prepared first and only after that Technology should follow. The preparation includes the setting up of Rural Electronic Workshops (REWs) which will enable the Women BSEs to carry out the repair and maintenance of the solar units immediately at the village level. Over the last 10 years the barefoot approach of involving semi-literate women in the solar electrification of remote rural villages all over the country has been recognised globally. The Approach has been accepted as an alternative community based approach that should be adopted on a wider scale all over the world. The profile of the some women BSEs and their socioeconomic status is shown in TABLE 2. TABLE 2: TYPICAL PROFILE OF BAREFOOT SOLAR ENGINEERS (BSE)

3 S. N o. Name and address of BSE 1 Mrs. Kambey Warie (34 Yrs ) Vill- Runikhata District Kokrajhar, Assam 2 Ritma Devi ( 25 Year ) Vill- Jamunia District Paschim Chamaparn, Bihar 3 Asha Devi ( 17 Year ) Vill- Kushalpura District Baran, Rajasthan 4 Nurboo Tundup ( 26 Yrs ) Vill- Sani, J&K 5 Shanti Lal ( 24 Yrs) Vill- Jawapada District Jhabua, MP 6 Hansi Devi ( 24 Yrs) Vill- Berichula District- Nainital, Uttranchal 7 Solley Joseph ( 23 Yrs) District- Wynad, Kerala 8 Sunita ( 22 Yrs) Vill- Tingret District- Lahaul Spiti, HP 9 Deepa Kshetri ( 24 Yrs) Vill- Nathang District- Gangtok, Sikkim Education 7th class 5th Class 9th Class 8th Class 8th class Socio- economic status Tribal, Domestic work Agriculture, Animal Husbandary Backward, Domestic Work Agriculture Tribal, Casual Labour collecting gum and leaves, fuel wood marginal farmer Tribal, Vegetable Farming Tribal, Agriculture, Animal Hunsbandry Housewife Agriculture Master Trainer Tribal, Domestic Work Tribal, Casual labour Tribal, Domestic work 2.3 Demystifying technology: the barefoot approach The "barefoot' approach has been tried, applied and tested since It has been accepted in remote villages in 16 States across the country including different eco-zones - mountains, cold deserts, hot deserts, tribal and drought prone areas. The Barefoot College believes that the Community Managed System is the ONLY sustainable solution to the solar electrification of the non-electrified villages anywhere in the world. 3. THE DEMYSTIFIED TECHNOLOGY The Barefoot College purchases solar panels and deep cycle batteries from the open market. All the other accessories are fabricated by the barefoot solar engineers the charge controllers, the inverters, the stands, the battery boxes. This is a move to reduce the dependency on the outside to the barest minimum. Fig. 1: A Solar Photo- Voltaic Unit Charge Controller protects the battery from overcharging by the solar panels and from under- voltage due to high a load from the electrical equipment. Inverter converts DC current to AC and steps up the voltage from the battery to a desired level, e.g. from 12V to 220V. TABLE 3: TYPICAL CAPACITY OF A SOLAR PANEL Solar Supports Panel wattage 18 Wp 1 solar lantern or 1 lamp 37 Wp 2 lamps 74 Wp 2 lamps + DC Fan + Portable TV 14 OR 4 lamps 4. WORK DONE

4 a) The Barefoot College is the ONLY fully Solar Electrified College based in a village in India. 40 KW of solar panels and 5 Battery banks of 136 deep cycle batteries were installed by barefoot solar engineers from 1989 onwards. The solar components (inverters, charge controllers, battery boxes, stands) were all fabricated in the College itself. b) In this College 209 BSEs, including 19 Women BSEs, all from the Himalayas, have been trained in the College. c) They have together solar electrified 140 villages. Solar units have been installed in 8003 households covering almost 531 villages across 16 Indian states. d) Every month with the monthly contribution being collected from each family for repair and maintenance and being deposited in the bank, nearly $ 40,000 has been collected. e) 139 Village Energy and Environment Committees (VEECs) have been trained to monitor the work of the BSEs and make sure the monthly contributions come in regularly. In remote mountain villages, people survive for 6 months of severe winter with temperatures reaching 40 ºC, using only dim kerosene lamps and candles, huddled close to the community stove and sharing the same room with their cattle. It is impossible to describe the incredible change that has taken place in the lives of over 15,000 people using fixed solar units and solar lanterns. To get a 20 litre jerry can of kerosene they had to walk for sometimes 2 days and that kerosene has to last one month. In a remote village in Ladakh an old woman was asked how solar electrification had benefited her. She replied with a shy smile, "For the first time I can see my husband's face clearly in winter." TABLE 4: ELECTRIFICATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SOLAR SYSTEMS IN INDIA BY BAREFOOT COLLEGE, TILONIA ( ) S. DESCRIPTION No. 1 Total no of fixed Solar Photo- Voltaic (SPV) units installed 2 Total number of Solar Lanterns Fabricated and distributed 3 Total number of Night Schools Solar Electrified 4 Total number of States/ Districts where fixed SPV units & Solar Lanterns are installed districts in 16 States Total number of Barefoot Solar Engineers trained 6 Total number of villages covered Total number of houses solar 8003 electrified 8 Total number of people benefited by 79,590 solar electrification (approx. figures) 9 Total kilowattage of Solar Energy 273 capacity KWp 5. IMPACT 5.1 Improving quality of life for the poor Fig. 2: Solar electrification in a village in Laddakh While lighting is an issue, the generation of employment through the use of solar energy is also a priority. The BSEs have been trained in the fabrication of solar water heaters for use in vegetable drying. Solar powered spinning wheels have given employment to over 200 women. 10 solar power plants of 2.5 KW at the REWs have provided power to

5 fabricate charge controllers and inverters. Solar water pumps are being used to lift water from the rivers to regenerate wastelands. Solar passive houses have been constructed by the BSEs. These Solar passive houses serve as schools in the mountains so that children can go to school even at 10 ºC in the winters. It can also be measured by the collective confidence the communities have shown in taking responsibility to decide their needs for themselves and ultimately own the project. What is extraordinary is the involvement of rural women in the dissemination of this sophisticated technology. a. For the first time solar technology has been demystified and ordinary simple village women have demonstrated how effectively they could manage and control the technology to improve their quality of life. b. For the first time women have demonstrated their competence and confidence to handle technology at the village level and provide service in their own community and be accepted and treated with the respect they deserve. c. The innovation is in involving the whole community in selecting semi-literate women as engineers to provide a vital technical service in non-traditional areas not generally associated with rural women d. The innovation is getting women solar engineers to persuade the community to pay a monthly contribution for the repair and maintenance of the solar systems they have installed in each house in their own village. This contribution has been coming regularly for the last 4 years. 5.2 Environmental impact The Barefoot College has been working in the area of protecting and conserving the fragile Biodiversity in the deserts of Rajasthan and all along the Himalayas by focusing on the following areas: - a) Making every attempt to reduce CO 2 emissions and related greenhouse gases. b) Provide an alternative so that trees and shrubs are not used as fuel for cooking, heating and lighting c) Promote and practice, thus set an example of living simply and with austerity without abusing and exploiting the water and land available. d) Control and minimize pollution by sharply reducing the consumption and use of diesel and kerosene for basic needs. e) Implement with community support a massive environmental education programme through the running of 150 night schools attended by over 3,000 drop out children being provided light through solar lanterns. 5.3 Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases Since 1986 the Barefoot College has been promoting the use of Solar Photovoltaics on a colossal scale all over the country. The concentration has been in the hot deserts of Rajasthan and in 4 Indian States all along the Himalayas. Several thousand houses, schools, community centers have been solar electrified in the most inaccessible and inhospitable regions of the world. Several hundred thousand litres of diesel and kerosene have been prevented form being burnt. Forests have been protected from being cut and environmental pollution has been controlled to some extent. As a result 60,000 Tons of Carbon emissions has been prevented from polluting the environment. TABLE 5: REDUCTION IN CARBON EMISSIONS BY INSTALLATION OF DOMESTIC SOLAR LIGHTING SYSTEMS ( ) No. of villages 140 No. of Households solar electrified 5,965 Use of fossils fuel in a month (Liters) Lamps 31,825 Gensets 40,500 Transport 12,800 Total 85,125 Average carbon emission/ month (tons) 256 Reduction in emission of Carbon (Tonnes) 61,200 The above calculations are based on use of kerosene for domestic lighting, diesel for generator set and diesel and petrol used for transportation of fossil fuel. 5.4 Community demand It s estimated that nearly 100,000 villages in India alone do not have conventional electricity. There is a constant demand for lighting and even in the officially declared "electrified" villages, kerosene and diesel is still used for home lighting. With the villages around the solar electrified villages noticing a qualitative change in their neighbour's lives, there is a heavy demand for solar electrification that the government is not in a position to respond to. 6. SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE

6 REWs are fully trained to maintain all the solar installations in the village. They do not need to look outside for any technical help. Financially also, they are independent. It is the responsibility of government to provide the hardware required for the SPV unit. It is the responsibility of the community to contribute financially to the repair and maintenance of the units. In matters of collecting regular contribution and making sure each solar unit is maintained properly, the VEECs are extremely strict. The break up of the costs involved is as follows: Other social benefits of community- managed solar installation are- Long term employment generation Night schools for children who work during day time Confidence building among the weakest and the poorest TABLE 6: INITIAL ONE TIME INVESTMENT FOR A SOLAR UNIT Solar Panel wattage Supports One time investment 18 Wp 1 solar lantern or 1 lamp 6,000 Rs 37 Wp 2 lamps 12,000 Rs 74 Wp 2 lamps + DC Fan + Portable TV 14 OR 4 lamps 20,000 Rs The one time investment for the hardware and its installation is provided by the funding agencies (UNDP, EU) as a part of the project. One time security deposit from each family = Rs For maintenance of all the solar units in the village and for paying the salary to the BSE, each family has to contribute an agreed upon amount- Typical monthly deposit from each family in the village = Rs 60 for Solar Home lighting System = Rs 20 for Solar lantern Once an existing battery is exhausted after years of use, new batteries are required. This deposited amount is used for buying new batteries also. The fund thus collected and managed by the community allows this project to be self- sustained. 7. CONCLUSIONS A technology just dumped on rural villages cannot be successful. The village community has to be prepared to understand, accept and own it. Village communities can run solar units on their own if they are trained to not only maintain but also to fabricate the equipment. Rural women have a key role to play in this.