India land of villages. The speciality of these villages is that they are unique and have created a milestone in many fields. When it comes to natural resources, India has rich natural resources.
There is a village that has used solar power and has become India’s first solar-powered village.
Modhera is a village located on the banks of River Pushpavati in the state of Gujarat has become the first solar-powered village in India. Armed with a large array of solar panels on the rooftops of houses, Government schools, bus stops, utility buildings, car parks and even the premises of the Sun Temple, Modhera benefits from the six-megawatt installed capacity power plant in nearby Sujjanpura village.
Modhera is also famous for the Chaulukya-era Sun Temple. According to the Prime Minister, Modhera which was earlier known as “Surya Mandir” has now become a “Saur Gram” and has been placed on the environmental and energy map of the world.
Funded by the Government of India and the Government of Gujarat, the estimated cost of the entire project is $9.7 million. What sets it apart is the fact that Modhera is also the first village to become a net renewable energy generator. Around 271 houses out of the 1600 houses in Modhera have installed rooftop solar systems. The solar power village uses 1000 solar panels that have been installed on the village homes to generate electricity for the villagers around-the-clock, making it self-sufficient in solar energy generation. It is created using a ground-mounted solar power plant and more than 1300 rooftop solar systems on homes and government structures that are all connected to battery energy storage devices (BESS), which is the country’s first-ever grid-connected megawatt-hour scale battery energy storage system that would help in providing electricity to the houses during the evenings.
This demonstration project is expected to provide learning to resolve bottlenecks related to renewable energy. If the project proves to be economically viable, the plan is to replicate it in other rural areas in Gujarat.
