1. (Working towards environmental protection) Bhubaneswar, Odisha Phone: +91 9437337700 Email: benudharsutar@gmail.com

2. Kerosene Free Rural Lighting through Community Initiative

3. Situation • Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack access to electricity; roughly 25% are in India alone. • For these people, life comes to a standstill after dusk. • Inadequate lighting is an impediment to progress and development opportunities, • Direct impact on the health, environment, and safety of billions of villagers as they are forced to light their homes with kerosene lamps, dung cakes, firewood, and crop residue after sunset.

4. Situation……..

5. Replace kerosene lamps With Solar Lantern kerosene Transferring Tech . know-how

6. The intervention • An initiative on the basis of an entrepreneurial model of energy service delivery. • Institutional mechanisms is created for delivery of energy services in the village. • The model benefits the user and it can sustain the whole process. • SHGs are trained to manage and run a solar lantern charging station where 30 - 50 lanterns would be charged centrally during the daytime and used in the evening.

7. The intervention…… • The user would pay for the services that they enjoy. • This model facilitates entrepreneurship development among rural communities apart from providing reliable and ensured lighting to households.

8. Major activities • Identification and training of local SHGs • Training to the selected women from the SHGs on solar lantern assembling • Installation of the solar lantern charging stations in the identified location. • Development of appropriate service model with provisions of training and capacity building for the SHGs. • Awareness generation among the communities on the benefit of the solar lantern and its potential use for various livelihood generation activities. • Sharing and dissemination best practices .

9. Solar Lantern features • It is charged by solar panel. • It is simple and can operate & maintain after short training. • Uses the world’s most efficient LEDs (light emitting diode) with more than 100,000 hours of life • When fully charged it will provide up to 18-20 hours of bright light. • The lamp is able to effectively illuminate a rural household with a room size of 4m x 4m. • It is 60 times brighter than a kerosene lamp/lantern. • Powered by 6volts 4.5AH SMF (sealed maintenance free) easily available for future replacement • Inbuilt Charge Controller for solar panel charging.

10. Development of appropriate business model • The trained SHG assemble the solar lanterns and market it locally through their business group and earn substantial income out of it. • The charging station is modelled as a business activity for the trained SHGs. The SHGs received technical trainings to effectively operate the charging station and better manage the business. • SHGs collect the rent towards the charging of the lanterns on the pre-agreed terms. Cost towards repair, replacement and maintenance of equipments borne by the product user as and when required. • Additional income is earned through renting of lanterns during community festivals and mobile charging.

11. Lesson Learnt • As women is the most over worked in the villages , getting few hours of extra time by means of providing clean lighting to them can enhance the opportunity to earn extra income for the family. • Need based capacity building is essential to enhance the capacity of women and to help them address their basic needs. • The technological option offered should be simple and easily transferable to enable the community to adopt it. • Rural energy technologies are most sustainable when they are promoted as an enterprise model, which gives opportunity for income generation, in addition to meeting basic needs.

12. Examples of improved situation after getting the solar lantern for lighting(Village ULTI, Lohardaga, Jharkhand) • Engagement of a girl in the village: It was reported that in the village an engagement ceremony of a village girl was on and suddenly the light went off during the main function time. The villagers suddenly approached one of the service stations and the SHGs immediately provided 10-15 lanterns which lighted up the whole location. This little incident in the village has changed the peoples mind set and started to appreciate the works of the SHGs and the demand for the solar lantern has increased. • Income generation activity:There is lot of Tamarind in the village and the business people are given the works to villages to separate the seeds from the Tamarind. One could see in many houses were the solar lanterns are given the women are using the solar light to get some extra income for the family. • Study of the children:The villagers affirmed that this solar light have given opportunities to the children to study better. • The villagers also certified that they have not purchased the kerosene for HH illumination once they got the solar lanterns.

14. Sustainable Rural Lighting through SHGs Chattisgarh - Jagdalpur & Jharkhand –Lohardaga (NABARD supported initiative)

15. TERI’s LaBLProgramme – 53 villages in Odisha

16. Other Technologies • Smokeless Chulha – SARALA model • Stabilized Mud Blocks – Fire-free bricks • Hydram units – Irrigation & Drinking water • Customized Solar Power plant – The first 10kwp solar system is under installation in Kakriguma, Koraput. • Kitchen waste bio-gas • Smoke free cooking stove

17. 3-M- Approach Maintain Market Make All Appropriate technology should have the combination of these three elements.

18. Thank You……