By:

Dr S.M ALI
SREEPTA MOHANTY
KIIT University , BBSR

Electrification of remote villages

y Besides food, shelter, clothing, and employment,

the next priority in villages is affordable energy

for cooking and lighting.

y The first important task, a gigantic task, will be

to build a network for cooking with LPG

(liquified petroleum gas) to do away with the
drudgery and unhealthy practice of cooking.

y The second important one will be to provide

electricity to improve the living conditions to act

as an essential catalyst in alleviating poverty.

y Moreover, 20 000 villages have been identified as

unapproachable from the grid line and will have to

depend on alternative sources of power.

y These alternative sources could be solar or wind
energy, biomass, biogas, or micro- hydel energy,
which may be locally available to be harnessed in a
useful manner.
y Incidentally, only these sources have been found to
be technologically and commercially viable until
now, especially in villages that are situated beyond
a certain distance from the grid line.

Application of solar power

y A solar power plant of the size 10100 kW (kilowatt),

depending on the load demand, is preferable

particularly with a liberal subsidy and low-interest soft
loan from financial institutions, to raise the quality of
life of the people subjected to poverty in these areas.
y Centralized

power generation and distribution,

individual DLS (domestic lighting systems) are also
common in many rural un electrified houses.

y The plants in Sagar Island(West Bengal) started

with the unique feature of training people to

operate and maintain the plants, besides

generating an awareness through interaction with
prospective consumers who at a later stage could
take up the management on a cooperative basis.
y Biomass-based power plants have also been set up
in that area.

y The four important components in a solar power

system are solar modules, battery, inverter, and
charge controller, besides other BOS (balance of

system)/components. These four components

incur more than two-thirds of the total cost.
y In fact, 50% of the project cost is invested on the
solar modules.
y In October 1998, regular electrification of villages
through off-grid solar plant started. So far, 11 such
plants have been set up, covering electrification of
more than 25 villages in Sagar Island. (Detailed
analysis are given in Table 1).

Table 1: Cost of module and percentage of total cost

Name

Month
and year

Installation
capacity
(KWp)

Module
(RS. in
1000)

Per Watt
cost

Total
(RS. in
1000)

Percentage
total

Kamalpur

Feb 1996

25

4617

174.25

7345

63

Mrityunjay

Oct 1988

25

5141

185.24

9218

56

Khasmahal

May 1999

25

4317

173

7968

54

Gayenbazar

May 1999

25

4317

173

7968

54

Mahendra

Aug 1999

25

4317

173

7968

54

Natendrapur

Aug 2000

25

3375

135.5

7098

48

Haradhanpur

Nov 2000

25

3375

135.5

7098

48

Mandirtala

Dec 2000

25

3375

135.5

7098

48

Mousuni-I

March
2001

25

8175

153.8

15379

53

Mausuni-II

April
2003

110

17111

156

29842

57

ParthPratim

March
2004

110

16112

146.46

31373

55

Analysis of Cost and output in India

and Germany
In India, the price of battery varies between Rs.27
per watt and Rs.41 per watt.
y The cost of an inverter has increased considerably
by almost 33% from Rs.42 to Rs.55 contrary to the
price of electronic items which are generally
decreasing .
y Charge controllers are on a declining trend.
y From Tables 2 and 3(given in the next slide), it
appears that the cost of the SPV stand-alone power
plants with an additional battery to store energy for
supply in the evening hours to meet the YLOODJHUV
need is 285 000 rupees (6264 dollars) / kWp.
y

y In Germany, the cost of a roof-top or other type

grid-connected units, exclusive of a battery in the
range of 50120 kWp of capacity, of a solar plant

is 289 760 rupees (6368 dollars).

y The cost of a module in Germany is above 70%
of the total cost as against 50%55% in India.
The cost of an inverter is around 12% of the total
cost in Germany, whereas it is nearly 19% in
India.
y The SPV (solar photovoltaic) mode of
electrification started in 1998 after a system on a
trial basis was commissioned in Kamalpur village
in 1996.

Table 2: Cost of battery, inverter,

and charge controller
Name

Total project

Inverter

Charge
controller

Batter y

Kamalpur

294

35

10

34

Mrityunjay

369

42

13

39

Khasmahal

319

63

41

Gayenbazar

319

63

41

Mahendra

319

63

41

Natendrapur

284

58

12

27

Haradhanpur

284

58

12

27

Mandirtala

284

58

12

27

Mousuni-I

280

34

Not quoted

37

Mausuni-II

284

71

71

41

ParthPratim

285

55

16

40

Table 3 :
Cost of solar power in Germany
and its Annual Generation
Region of
Germany

No. of
installations

Total capacity
(KWp)

Annual generation
(KWh/KWp)

North-West

453

1215

732

South

895

2250

860

Capacity Range

Module cost

Inverter cost

Cost in Euro per KWp

50-120 KWp

74.3%

11.8%

5307

Comparative analysis between

Conventional and Non-conventional
sources of power
y Overall cost per watt has reduced by nearly 23% as seen in

the competitive bidding in West Bengal in India.

y Capital cost of thermal generation is as low as 40 000
rupees per kW.
y Compared to this, decentralized solar power generation is
285 000 rupees per kW or 3.5 times higher.

y Cost has reduced by 50% over two decades and should

descend further by 50% so that conversion of solar

power to electricity is commercially viable for general
application.

y There is an additional element of fuel charge in the

y
y

tariff connected with thermal power due to dangerous

repercussion from pollution and health hazards.
Instead, solar power happens to satisfactorily
addresses this serious issue free from recurring cost on
fuel to provide clean energy.
Ironically, though the SPV system is utilized to help
poor people in remote areas in third world countries.
The same technology works for well-to-do people in
urban areas in the developed countries.
In both the cases, states finance the schemes through
incentives or some form of a grant.

y Therefore, it is little wonder that Japan, Germany, and

the US, have several SPV installations with hundreds

of megawatts in capacity as against only a few
installations with tens of megawatt capacity in India
and Africa, though they both have enough sunshine.

TtHhAaNnKk YyOoUu