Modhera : From Sun Temple to Sun Village

 

 

 

Context :

PM Modi begins three-day Gujarat visit; to inaugurate projects ahead of election   .   /  HINDU  /  09  Oct  2022

Extract :

“From today, people in Modhera will no longer pay for electricity but will instead sell it and earn from it. Earlier, the government supplied power to residents; now, with the installation of solar panels, residents now produce their own electricity,” he said amid AAP’s pre-poll sop of 300 units of free electricity if voted to power in the State.

In Modhera, all residents have installed rooftop solar panels on their home under the State government’s scheme.

 

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/pm-modi-declares-gujarat-s-modhera-as-india-s-first-24x7-solar-powered-village-11665323102394.html     /  MINT   /  09  Oct  2022

Extract :

Making Modhera the country's first round-the-clock solar-powered village involved developing a ground-mounted solar power plant and more than 1,300 rooftop solar systems on residential and government buildings, a government release said.

 

 

PM declares Guj village first with full solar power  /  Hindustan Times  /  09 Oct 2022

 

Extract :

The government used to produce electricity and citizens purchased it but now the Centre is making efforts to ensure that people can turn into producers of electricity, the PM said

“The people are not only getting free electricity, they even make money by selling the extra power generated. Here, the household owners and farmers are generators and users of electricity. Whatever extra power is generated, they sell it to the government. Not only are their power bills reduced to zero, they can even make some extra income by selling power to government,” he said at a rally in poll-bound Gujarat.

 

Addressing the rally, the PM said the government is providing financial assistance to generate power using rooftop solar panels and hundreds of thousands of solar pumps have been installed across the country for irrigation purposes.

 

“Whenever people will talk about solar in future, Modhera will be at the top of the minds. It is a place where everything is run using solar power be it agriculture or household utilities,” he said.

 

According to a statement from the Gujarat government, both central and state governments invested over ₹80 crore in the project, with the state allotting 12 hectares of area for the project.

 

“The people in the village can save 60% to 100% on their electricity bills with this project,” the release said.

 

My  Take  :

 

Can this   “  Miracle of Modhera “ be replicated in 600,000 villages of India ?

Without a doubt – if there is a political WILL  

It is not difficult at all to find , on the outskirts of every village , just 10 – 20 hectares of land  ( belonging to the State Government  ), which is neither used for farming , nor for cattle-grazing

That leaves  the question of raising Rs 80 crore for each village ( a simplified assumption )

To find  Rs 80 crore  each for  6 lakh villages , is no doubt beyond the means of , either the Central Govt or the State Governments

Villagers, themselves may not be able to contribute in any significant manner

On the other hand, City dwellers have funds for installing Solar Panels but just not enough Roof Area  ( 100 KW requirement of 10 tenants of a multi-story building, would require 10,000 Sq Ft of terrace area ! )   

But here is my 2 YEAR old suggestion , which can supply to  “ city dwellers “ , solar power produced by “ village dwellers “ , living hundreds or thousands of km away !

 

Ø  A Tale of Two States ………………………………………………..[ 28  Oct  2020 ]

Extract :

 

Ø  Introduce “ Co-operative Farming of Solar Power / CFSP “

   {  along the lines of Dairy Farmers’ AMUL Milk Cooperative Society }

          

Ø    Under CFSP, provide 30 % Capital Cost Subsidy to companies setting up large (

      > 500 MW ) Solar Farms in remote areas ( eg : desert areas of Kutch – Spiti –

      Lahul – Ladakh etc , which have a potential to generate 315 GW of Solar power )

Read : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/08/from-ladakh-with-love-and-sun-shine.html 

Ø  1 MW of ( grid ) solar will need 100,000 sq ft of solar panels ( 1 KW will need 100

     sq ft )

Ø  The estimated cost of 1 MW solar power plant is approx. Rs 4 - 6 crore.

Ø  That works out to approx. Rs 400 - 600 / sq ft of Capital cost for Solar panels

Ø  Solar Farm company can “ Sell “ ownership rights of solar panels to individuals in

    modules of 1000 sq ft, ( costing Rs 4- 6 lakh per module ). These rights can be

    sold / transferred to any buyer, only with prior permission of the Solar Farm

    Company concerned

Ø  Each module ( of 1,000 sq ft ) will generate 10 KW of power, which Company will

    feed into a NATIONAL GRID ( free ) .

Ø  Each such Co-operative Company can reserve / own by itself, 30 % of Solar Panels

    for generating power for sale in free market 

  

Ø  My nearest DISCOM will supply me those 10 KW, free of cost ( ie: deduct from my

    monthly usage ) . Any excess over my actual consumption, to be credited to my

    account

Ø  Depending upon my usage / need , I as an individual CO-OPERATIVE OWNER ,

    can “ buy “ any number of STANDARD MODULES, and from any number of

    Cooperative Farming companies or other Co-op Owners

Ø  This set-up will require NATIONAL SOLAR EXCHANGE in which ALL discoms

    will be mandated to become members

 

 

Dear Shri R K Singhji,

 

Barely 3 WEEKS after sending you above-mentioned e-mail, I was delighted to read

   that your Ministry has

planned to launch a Scheme, almost IDENTICAL to what I had suggested , as

   summarized below :

 

Ø  Congratulations , Shri R K Singhji …………………………….[ 19 Nov 2020 ]

    Extract :

 Ø  Name of Scheme

             'Development of Wind Parks /Wind-solar Hybrid Parks

Ø  “ Plug and Play “ solution

Wind Energy Park will provide a plug and play solution ( availability of land,

 transmission, necessary infrastructure and necessary approvals ) to the

 investors for installing wind / wind-solar power projects

Ø  Sites

Sits have been identified across seven states – Tamil Nadu / Andhra Pradesh

 / Karnataka / Telangana / Gujarat / Rajasthan / Madhya Pradesh

Ø  Who will select Park developers ?

The State Government would designate park developer who would

undertake the development of park including DPR preparation, land,

transmission infrastructure etc

Ø  Potential

For a capacity of 53,495 MW ( 53.5 GW ) - @ 5 MW per sq km

Ø  Prescribed Capacity of each park

500 MW and more. In special circumstances, smaller parks may be allowed .

In any case, the capacity of each park shall not be less than 50 MW.

Ø  Who can invest in a park ?

Park developers may also be allowed to “ pool “ small investor into the single park

 

Ø  MNRE’s Financial assistance to the developer

#   For preparation of DPR       >   Rs 25 lakh per park  

#   For park development cost >   “ Rs 20 lakh / MW “  or  “ 30 % of

                                                  development cost “,

     whichever is lower

 

Ø  Interstate Transfer of power

      If the power generated in the park (full or partial) is exported to other

      state, then the state government or its designated agency will be entitled

      for a facilitation charge @ 5 paisa per unit of electricity exported to other

      state from project developer

 

 

Ø  Comments to be sent by >  28 Nov. 2020  (  to Shri Rahul Rawat

 -   rahul.mnre@gov.in )

     

     Source :

     MNRE proposes scheme for development of wind-solar hybrid parks 

    (  Business Line / 19 Nov )

 

 

 

 

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  10 Oct 2022

  

 

Related  Readings :

Ø  MY 163  BLOG'S ON SOLAR POWER ………………………………….[ 10 Mar 2022 ]

 

 Affordable Solar Power for Everyone  ?   /   Youtube Video of Matt Farrell 

========================================

Added  on  02  Nov  2022 :

India's first solar village in Gujarat's Modhera lights up the lives of poor residents

{ Deccan Herald  -  01 Nov 2022 )

Extract :

The project in Modhera, financed by the federal and provincial government at nearly Rs 82.53 crore ($10 million), involved setting up over 1,300 rooftop panels on residential and government buildings that were connected to a power plant. 

The government buys excess energy produced here from residents if they do not use all of the capacity allotted to the households

With this money, Praveen Bhai, 43, a tailor, plans to buy a gas connection and stove, since many houses in the village cook food in wood-fired stoves that leave a smoky haze.

==============================================================

My Take :

Dear Shri R K Singhji

{ Minister - MNRE }

For past few years, we have been reading about various organizations ( including ONGC - IOC ), coming out with designs / prototypes of SOLAR CHULHAS 

Despite licensing of the design / technology to several PRIVATE SECTOR parties, unfortunately there is no news of any commercial MASS PRODUCTION

As repeatedly urged in the past, I urge you once again to make MODHERA a " laboratory " and distribute FREE of COST , one SOLAR COOKER each to 1300 villagers of Modhera

Its success will ensure all 600,000 villages of India wanting to REPLICATE the Modhera Model 

with regards,

hemen parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  02  Nov  2022

2017 ( 1 ) :

Solar  Chula  ?  Some  Unanswered  Questions …………………….[  03 Nov  2017  ]

 

2018 ( 1 )  :

Solar Chulha : Where can I buy ? …………………………………………….[ 16 July 2018 ]

 

2020 ( 4 )   :

Dear Shri Goyalji : How about a Solar Cooker ? ……………………..[ 26 Aug 2020 ]

Time to " Talk the Walk " …………………………………………………………..[19 Sep 2020 ]

Not in one day : What about 3 years ? …………………………………….[ 25 Oct 2020 ]

Enough to entice Elon ?  ……………………………………………………………[ 03 Nov 2020 ]

 

2021  ( 3 )  :

Inscrutable are the ways of the Providence ? ………………………….[15 June 2021 ]

Air Pollution Sources : And “ How to save 2.5 Lakh lives “………[ 25 June 2021 ]

Congratulations, Dr Harish Hiraniji …………………………………………..[ 13 Nov 2021 ]

 

2022  (  4  )  :

A Battery Swapping Policy for Battery-Powered Solar Cookers ? [ 25 Mar 2022 ]

Getting Closer : Battery-powered Electric Cooker …………………….[ 11 May 2022 ]

3C = Congratulations, Calicut Cooker-Walas  ……………………………[ 10 June 2022 ]

My Solar Cooker dream about to materialise ? [ 07 July 2022 ]

 

 

Dear Narendrabhai : Thanks for reminding ……………………………….[ 04 Mar 2022 ]

Extract :

Ø  He said innovations are required in in the areas of clean cooking and SOLAR COOKING can be a big market for Startups “

       

Ø  In Sept 2017 , while inaugurating ONGC’s corporate office, PM Shri Modiji said :

      “ Our poor rural ladies are suffering due to air pollution caused by burning

        wood – straw – cow-dung cakes – kerosene , for cooking on chulhas .

        Millions of them are prematurely dying due to lung diseases

        We must give them Solar Chulhas “

 

       

Ø  How can Govt help to accelerate a RAPID ADOPTION of Solar Cookers ?

        By providing a DBT ( Direct Benefit Transfer ) of 75 % of the Sale Price 

        of a Solar Cooker ( meeting very specific performance criteria – and 

       having  obtained a prior ISI certificate ), into the Jan Dhan Account of  the

       buyer (  subject to max of Rs 7,500 )

         

        This subsidy would be available to a HOUSE-HOLD ( and not to each 

       person in the family ), and can be availed only ONCE per family. Aadhar

        details would be mandatory

        Subsidy would be available for only DIRECT PURCHASE from govt

        approved Authorised Dealers – and not from Re-Sellers

       

        

Ø  Allocation of Rs 37,256 crore for LPG subsidy ( for cooking ), is an ANNUAL RECURRING expense

Ø  Govt had specified its max “ Sale Price” at Rs 10,000 /- per Stove [ $ 135 ]

Ø  For Rs 37,256 Crore, govt can buy and distribute ( FREE ), some 3.7 cr (37 million ) solar stoves

Ø  Within about 2 years, Govt can handover a SOLAR STOVE to all households covered by Ujwalla Scheme households covered by Ujwalla Scheme