How Baripatha became the first village to be powered entirely by solar energy

For the 350-odd tribals of Baripatha, a small village located about 25 km southwest of Bhubaneswar, life changed after October 2, 2015. The day was marked in history as Baripatha became the first village inthe state to be powered entirely by solar energy. According to India Times, many solar projects elsewhere in the country have failed but Baripatha has proven to be different. Its model is low-cost, low-maintenance and community-owned – elements that are missing in other solar-powered projects. “This model can be replicated all over Odisha to provide power to its nearly 3,900 villages,” said senior IPS officer Joydeep Nayak, the prime mover behind this initiative.

The Rs 7 lakh project is co-funded by ECCO Electronics – a solar product manufacturer; and Jakson Group – a diversified power solutions provider. Individual solar units with two lamps in each of the village’s 61 households, along with a central one-kilowatt unit that powers eight street lamps, and an LED television set and a TV set-top box for the community centre have been set up. “Till now, in all rural solar projects, central units would supply power to households. Often, the exposed cables would be tapped by some, while others would draw more than their shares. This would cause the central unit to overload and trip,” said Jakson’s executive vice-president Sandip Ghosh. By providing individual units to each household, these problems have been resolved.

“The entire village has been involved in the planning and execution. Village mukia Narayan Hisa along with a local ITI diploma holder, Epil Kumar Singh, are responsible for the maintenance,” said ECCO CEO Vivek Bihani. “The only maintenance required is regular cleaning of the solar panels and, in case of the central unit, ensuring that the water levels in the batteries are at the optimum mark. It is actually zero-maintenance.”

Two multipurpose LED lamps were handed over to each household by NALCO Chairman and Managing Director T K Chand and various state officials. “They cost Rs 2,650 and Rs 1,750 each and villagers can get them on easy instalments through micro-finance,” said Bihani. Nayak says NALCO and other companies are ready to subsidize the lamps through their CSR.

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