Project on Affordable Electricity for Rural Households by DevAlt

Affordable Electricity for Households

Community Owned & Operated Model

A. Introduction

Lack of Access to reliable electricity supply hampers the overall socio economic development of a geographic region. Lot of initiatives on Institutional and policy have been taken by the state and central government to address the issue but due to lack of political will, poor planning and electricity theft are major causes which have left many villages in India without electricity. The structure targets the use of natural resources such as sun’s rays to address the basic needs like electricity, currently state as well as central government focused on solar based rural electrification for reliable electricity.

B. About Model

The lightning model is innovative because of its minimal infrastructure setup, low maintenance cost, & have easy installation with simple technological intervention uniqueness of this model is it doesn’t require single piece of land this can be easily mountable on the roof top of a HH. The best feature of this model is at a same time 30 HHs can be connected to the same network for accessing 6-7 hrs reliable electricity. Model is easily adopted by the community because they are involved in the process from planning to implementation & monitoring processes. This is a very useful /effective for the semi-arid regions like Bundelkhand where sunny days are around 300 days

C. Major steps for Starting Intervention

D. Design of the model and corresponding benefits to Community or Beneficiary

	Design	Benefits
Technical Design	Installation of Double Solar Photo-Voltaic Panel (SPV Unit) with DC Transmission system provides electricity for lighting 2 LED (3W x2) and 1 charging point, for a minimum of 6-7 hours a day for 30 households in a village which are in close proximity as a cluster.	Supply of Reliable electricity with Led bulbs for 6-7 hrs during evening hours. For easy communication a mobile charging point is placed in the distribution box for charging of mobile phones for all 30 HHs. 30 HHs residing in a cluster or small hamlets, villages can be easily connected to the system at the same time The use of renewable energy allows the system to function with a minimal carbon emission
Process Design	A series of meeting with community should be held the village community & Panchyat representative is held to explain about technical and social aspects of model Identification of sites for installation of technology. Discussion on the implementation mechanism. Formation of community base institutions like Urja Samiti for collection of monthly fees and discuss bottlenecks.	The meeting makes all technical (Feasibility Study, Resistivity test, Site finalization) and financial (Project Cost, Community Contributions, Breakeven, NOC & WCC) information relating to the project transparent. The community will be taking care of maintenance, repair and replacement expenses independently through its accumulated fund, rendering the model sustainable over time.
Institutional Design	A village-level committee, Urja Samiti, should formed in the village comprising of 10 women and 1 member from CSOs, the members of which are chosen based on the community’s consensus. The Samiti undertakes collection of the monthly charge, ongoing maintenance and repairs. The technical agency/CSOs should selects a Urja Mitra from the village who have some basic knowledge on electricity repair & Maintenance.	The Samiti will be empowered to make decisions because of its representative nature as well as the funds it accumulates. This represents an excellent example of community governance of an important resource. Youth will be engaged into green jobs.

E. Innovation in Model

F. Sustainability Approach

Sustainability Approach- For long term sustainability community involvement in implementation & monitoring of system through community based organization will lead to sustain technical, social, Economic & Environmental components of the model.

G. Role of Stakeholders in Management Process of HHs Lightning

Stakeholder	Roles
Urja Samiti (10 Women + 1 member of DA)	Grid Mapping Exercise Monthly revenue Collection and documentation Money transfer to Technical Agency/CSOs Operation of Bank account Monthly disbursement to Urja Mitra
Urja Mitra (Youth Engagement)	Planning of Grid Implementation Monthly revenue Collection and deposit in bank account Ensure smooth operation and maintenance of pico grids
Technical Agency/CSOs	Technology Provision Equipment’s Provision Maintenance Training of Urja Mitra in operation and maintenance Open Bank Account and j

H. Economics of 1 Pico-grids Unit connecting 30 HH

I. Abbreviations

NOC    - No Objection Certificate
WCC    - Work Completion Certificate
SPV      - Solar Photovoltaic
HH        - House Holds
LED      - Light Emitting Diode
CSOs    - Civil Society Organizations
MM      - Millimetre
DC       - Direct Current