First of its kind, a village in Telangana claims to generate its own electricity using solar power for 100% of its needs. Banjerpally, a small village in the district of Siddipet (Telangana) has 121 houses in total and nearly 95 households got solar power connections back in 2015. Later, remaining houses were also added. This village not only uses solar energy just for domestic purposes but also uses the power connection for irrigation and street lighting as well.
It all started four years back when Banjerpally was facing lots of power cuts. Villagers were hardly getting power for one hour a day. And they used to pay a bill of Rs. 700 to Rs. 1,000 for using the power just for that one hour every day. Thanks to the solar initiative taken by Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao, the village now pays the minimum electricity bill of Rs 120 a month.
The project started in 3 phases. In the first phase, solar power connections were provided to every household in the village. The total cost of the solar power connection for each house was Rs. 85,000 whereas each beneficiary had paid an amount of Rs. 8,500 (10% of the total project cost) as their contribution, while the remaining amount was provided as a subsidy from the government.
In the second phase, solar street lights were deployed in the village for which both the State government & the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) funded Rs. 5 lakh each. In the final phase, solar power was supplied to run bore wells in the village.
As you walk into the village, you can see solar panels atop every house. Villagers in their house use all electrical appliances such as TV, fridge, lights, fans and even single-phase motors to pump water. Each unit of solar equipment generates 500 watts of power, which can operate three fans, a refrigerator, a television set, five bulbs, a cooler or even a photocopy machine.
Also Read: Number Of Solar Panels, Battery Bank & Inverter Load You Need For Your Home
Right now Telangana stands at second position with a generation capacity of over 3500 MW commissioned through solar energy. Another 1000 MW are in the pipeline which will be commissioned likely in the next six to eight months.
If you are also planning to go solar, please read our article on How To Convert Your Existing Inverter & Battery Into Solar Inverter & Battery.
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