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The pictures present the story of the daily life of thousands of people in the villages of Gorakhpur and Maharajganj. This community having a population of around 27000 has minimum access to electricity. Most of the people living in this region earn their living by farming or through micro-enterprises and live on variable and low incomes. No electrification is a major struggle they go through everyday. The following are some of the common problems faced by them:
- The micro-enterprise owners have access to lighting only for 3 hours every evening through use of diesel generator. The cost of running a generator per day comes to approximately INR 6500. The region being in the remotest location, it is difficult to find diesel every day, one of the several issues associated with this solution.
- The women in the houses find it difficult to work without light. The pictures show how every evening is like in Maharajganj. According to the native women, not only cooking but the absence of electricity is also a hindrance for the studies of their children. This claim is justified by the fact that the literacy rate of this region is below 50% which is less than the overall literacy rate of the country
Through this project we intend to help more than 150 shops in the selected region. They will be getting 4 – 5 hours of lighting to run their shops for a longer period of time and earn extra income.
Our Aim
- We are electrifying 50 shops in villages of Gorakhpur and Maharajganj via a crowdfunded campaign. (Old Campaign , for which funds are already ready)
- There are 150 more shops and several homes which we want to include in our project but due to lack of funds, we are not able to work on them.
Plans
- The village has been identified using the support of local micro-finance company which will be maintaining these plants.
- Funds for this project will be used to procure the solar panels, batteries to expand the grid.
- There would be a local technician/electrician who would be given thorough knowledge regarding the installation and maintenance of the devices.
- After completion of the training program, these technicians and electricians will help install a fully established solar power plant on in that area to cover electricity needs of 300 families. Periodic checks would be conducted and assistance would be provided to these technicians.
- Our online monitoring platform, TrackSo, will be monitoring the solar systems remotely for a regular check, raise alerts, predict failures and allow control of solar system based on payments.
Example- we have given similar training in villages of west Bengal
Sustainable Solution-
Fund collected will be used to install grids but regular maintenance will be involved. ( Example- Batteries are required to be changed every 4th year, regular cleaning is required for producing maximum power from the panels, local technicians are required to restore systems during time of breakdown)
After the installation is complete, residents will pay Rs 7 to the local contact for per day use who will be responsible for maintenance, repair, security, and payment collection for this system.
If there are any issues with the system (battery replacement or any other), that will be borne by the installer for the whole life of the solar plant and the cost burden won't fall on the villagers.
All the supporters will be provided access to our online monitoring platform and can any day log in and check the performance of the system they contributed for.
Reports- Once the project is completed a full report, photos and recorded videos will be submitted to all supporters.
If any of the supporters is interested in helping us on ground, then we are more than happy to welcome them.
Do share your thoughts with us below and don’t forget to contribute your share of energy too.
Team
Extra
More about our social initiatives can be found here- www.freespirits.in
More photos of our initiatives can be seen here- https://www.facebook.com/pg/freedomtoinnovate/
More photos of our initiatives can be seen here- https://www.facebook.com/pg/freedomtoinnovate/
Do share your thoughts with us below and don’t forget to contribute your share of energy too.
Team
