Date: 16/11/2010

Abundant opportunities for solar companies in rural electrification market

When the utility owned electric grid has difficulties to reach remote villages particularly with bad terrain, solar is highly suitable for such villages. Indian solar companies can come out with highly innovative solutions for Indian rural solar market. With smart grid technology the village can become both buyer and supplier of electricity.

France based company Schneider Electric has come out with a solution called Villasol, for village electrification, where it has installed pilot project in Nigeria. Villasol is a solar-powered micro off-grid facility for decentralised rural electrification. This standardized solution consists in photovoltaic panels; a battery bank and a battery charging station that enable a communal recharge system. The facility supplies domestic, entrepreneurial and community needs such as schools, health centers, water supply, public lightings for around 100 households, without connection to the national grid.

The release from Schneider states fulfillment of the basic households' lighting needs with a portable lamp and battery system that villagers can recharge. As villagers pay for recharging their battery, they pay more attention to their consumption. This lamp and battery system comes from In-Diya, a solar home lighting system already commercialized by Schneider Electric in India and Bangladesh.