Mosiac helps bring solar to rural West Bengal, India
Solar Mosaic is excited to present the first of our community solar grants to ONergy and VSSU, two organizations working to setup community solar projects in rural West Bengal, India.
The grant will be used to set up a demonstration community solar project in southern India at Lakhikantapur in South 24 Praganas. In this village, almost 40 percent of the households have no access to electricity. Kerosene lamps are favored because they are cheap to buy, but they are expensive to run. A survey at the beginning of the project revealed that the average family spends Rs 4000 ($81) per month on their kerosene, health, food, education, transport, and other needs. Since the majority of the residents earn less than Rs 5000 ($101) per month, this leaves residents with very little disposable income for emergencies or to grow their small businesses or farms.
The demonstration solar project will help power this multi-use community center that is home to a library, school, job training center and orphanage.
The project site is in a high-traffic area due to its proximity to the Sunderbans--a large mangrove forest that has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its incredible amount of biodiversity. Thus the solar project will not only be useful to the otherwise dark community center, it will also spread awareness through demonstration.
The project aims to demonstrate and generate uptake of solar amongst the rural population. The solar products sold by Onergy and VSSU could reduce monthly family expenditure on lighting by 50 percent and increase family incomes by 20-30 percent.
ONergy will supply the solar lights and train VSSU in customer education, battery replacement, sales and demand generation.
The environmental and health benefits of solar lanterns are numerous. Solar lanterns reduce carbon dioxide emissions given off by traditional kerosene lamps and reduce the incidences of burns, fatal fires and respiratory deaths caused by burning kerosene in an enclosed space. ONergy is committed to provide best quality solar solutions and servicing in East India and offer affordable solar systems to people who do not have access to clean and reliable energy.
About VSSU
Vivekananda Sevakendra-O-Sishu Uddyan (VSSU) was established in 1983 to empower distant villages and weaker rural communities in the district of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India. VSSU’s arena of endeavours encompasses the people whose lives are subjugated by extreme poverty, illiteracy, disease and other maladies. With versatile development concerns, VSSU endeavours to bring about significant changes in the lives of the poor people. VSSU’s different concerns are microfinance, home for destitute children, educational institutes, library, training centre for human resource development and several other productive units and agriculture. VSSU firmly believes and is actively involved in building the social, economic and human capacity of the poor.
About ONergy
ONergy is a renewable energy venture committed to sustainability and equity. ONergy is dedicated to delivering quality and affordable sustainable energy solutions across Lighting, Cooking and Electrification in rural India. It provides last mile energy access by establishing Renewable Energy Centers. The company’s mission is to enable households without reliable electricity to attain the same quality of life as those with electricity by replacing every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. By 2016, the company aims to impact a million lives. For more information about ONergy, visit http://ONergy.in.
