Like the two solar power projects CM Prithviraj Chavan announced on Friday, most investments towards clean energy go to large plants that feed into electricity grids, failing to take the millions of rural poor living far away from the grid into account. Lhendup G Bhutia travels to Vanvasipada in Thane district to see how Chinese-made solar appliances are playing an epic role in changing the lives of Indian villagers
Like the two solar power projects CM Prithviraj Chavan announced on Friday, most investments towards clean energy go to large plants that feed into electricity grids, failing to take the millions of rural poor living far away from the grid into account. Lhendup G Bhutia travels to Vanvasipada in Thane district to see how Chinese-made solar appliances are playing an epic role in changing the lives of Indian villagers
Inside a hut made of mud and wood, wedged between two corners occupied by a 37 year-old woman cooking dinner, and two calves munching hay, a school is in session. Sitting on the floor, peering into their textbooks, are 25 students divided into three groups. They all sit side-by-side, and represent Standard 1, Standard 2 and Standard 3. Except for the occasional disturbance of the rooster chasing a cock, the classes taken by a solitary teacher run smoothly. He addresses one class, while the others finish their class-work, facing the wall. As he moves to the next batch, the concerned group turns to face him, while the previous one, turns to the wall. 
Yamuna Leelka The Vanvasipada resident says the solar lamp fortuitously
arrived in time for a wedding scheduled a few weeks ago between her
18 year-old son Sunil and his 16 year-old bride Suvarna.u00a0
Welcome to Vanvasipada's only school. Located in Thane, 120 km away from Mumbai, this village houses 250 tribals and 25 huts, and has never seen electricity. And while this quaint model of education has continued in the village for years, one thing changed last week. They stopped lighting kerosene lamps. The students now use a solar lantern manufactured in China. Despite being located just a half-hour drive from Charoti Naka, a busy junction on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, Vanvasipada continues to remain without electricity, although its nearest neighbour, Batterypada was electrified over three years ago.
Its tribals, an affable lot, named their village Vanvasipada, because many years ago, when they moved to their current location (following a government diktat, because the earlier location turned into a stone quarry that would supply material for construction projects in Mumbai) they believed they were going on a vanvas (exile) for only a few years, like lord Ram had.
Batterypada was originally called Dongripada, but two decades ago, when a villager was injured by diesel battery, the name Batterypada stuck. Vanvasipada's residents are poor, and do not use paper currency frequently. Firewood is collected, and they eat what is grown in nearby farms. To gather money for necessities like kerosene, the men travel to nearby towns like Palghar during the summers to work as construction labourers. Last week, the villagers received a batch of Sun King solar lamps at a subsidised rate of Rs 300 each and life hasn't been the same since.
Small solar panels now lie along with chilies on roofs, and villagers can stay up as late as midnight thanks to the light in their homes. This is a change from earlier when everyone was in bed by 8 pm. The solar lamp also fortuitously arrived in time for a wedding scheduled a few weeks ago between 18 year-old Sunil Leelka and 16 year-old Suvarna. "It was such a grand wedding. The whole village was here and I kept the lamp right where the groom and bride were sitting so that everyone could see their happy faces," says Yamuna Leelka, the groom's mother. "Previously, we never got to see the happy couple in all their finery."
As small-scale renewable energy becomes cheaper, reliable and more efficient, Chinese-made appliances instead of Indian ones are providing the first drops of modern power to villages located far off from slow-growing electricity grids. These may be minuscule in comparison to big renewable energy projects that many countries are embracing to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, but these tiny Chinese-produced systems are playing an epic role in India's rural areas.
On Friday, the Maharashtra state cabinet approved the setting up of a 125 MW and 25 MW solar power projects at Shivajinagar in Dhule. And so, while Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the project is among the biggest of its kind in the world, records indicate that there are over 400 million people in India who live away from the grid.
The reason why Chinese-produced products are trumping Indian-made appliances is because they are cheaper. Sun King is priced at Rs 850 (although with the help of donations, Vanvasipada residents had to pay only Rs 300).u00a0 d.light, another global companyu00a0 that manufactures its products in China, sells its S10 solar lamp for just Rs 549. In comparison, Indian companies sell their solar appliances for anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000.
Greenlight Planet, producers of Sun King, currently sells the lamp in Africa and South Asia but India is its primary market. Mayank Sekhsaria, co-founder of Greenlight Planet, says, "Compared to China, there is poor availability of components required for producing solar lamps like ours, in India. LED lights and small solar panels that we require are not manufactured here. Perhaps, when the demand picks up, we will see a more vibrant manufacturing scene in India."u00a0u00a0
Another Chinese-manufactured product that has become popular in many villages both in India and Africa, is the d.light S10. With its other two products, including the S250, which also charges mobile phones, the company has sold products to over 3.5 million people, including 1.5 million Indians. Mandeep Singh, Managing Director of d.light, India, says, "Ours is a US-patented brand. We design our products in the US, but the production is done in China. Our target audience is extremely-price conscious, and there is no cheaper place to produce than China."
The market is also flooded with many sub-standard and cheaper Chinese-manufactured solar appliances that are shipped to India by distributors and sold through NGOs to villagers. A distributor based in Thane, who requested anonymity, claims to be one of them. He distributes Indian-manufactured solar appliances to areas around Mumbai that face power-cuts, but when he gets orders for cheap Chinese products from non-governmental organisations, he gets them imported from China. "The consignment is usually upwards of 500 items, so, even if a few fail, it won't cause much loss. They are then distributed cheaply by these NGOs."
Since most Chinese-made off-grid solar appliances are being installed by individuals and tiny NGOs, there is no reliable data available on how widespread the phenomenon is. But Abhishek Shah, a Kolkata-based analyst for a US technology-investing fund in India, who also runs a popular analysis blog for green investing called Green World Investor, believes the trend is on an acceleration.
"It's a phenomenon that's sweeping Africa and India," Shah says. "Cheap solar panels and high-efficiency LED lights now deliver useful electricity at a price that many of the poor are able to afford." These new, cheap appliances are circumventing the traditional model, where government-owned companies slowly extend the grid to rural areas. Besides, several Indian investors still find products for rural consumers a risk.
Jasjeet Singh Chaddah, founder of Grameen Surya Bijlee Foundation, an NGO set up to provide lighting to the rural underprivileged, also produces solar appliances and imports the LED component from China. Most investments to promote climate-friendly energy hew to large projects like industrial-scale solar plants that feed into the grid, he says. "Off-grid is the answer for the poor. But people who control funding need to see this as a viable option."
If priced cheap, there is evidence of a market for solar products. Its only competitor is the kerosene lamp, which is known to be the cause of accidental fires and lets out poisonous carbon monoxide as fumes. In Vanvasipada, farmer Hari Leelka says solar energy is proving to be a cheaper option. "I used to spend at least Rs 75 every month on kerosene. For this solar lamp, I paid Rs 300," he says pointing to his Sun King, "and I won't have to spend any more on it."
Hunched over her mud-caked chullah preparing rice, Yashu Leelka, the 37 year-old woman in whose home the Vanvasipada school is in session, says she did not know the village did not have electricity, when she arrived here after marrying her husband 18 years ago. "My village, Pachivada had electricity; I think I was tricked into this marriage," she says. Does she know her Sun King is manufactured in China? "I didn't know that. All I care is that for 18 years my hut has seen no light, and now children throng here to study by my light."
It's about the money, honey Chinese vs Indian
Chinese-produced goods are trumping Indian-made appliances thanks to competitive pricing. Sun King is priced at Rs 850, while d.light, another global company that manufactures its products in China, sells its S10 solar lamp for Rs 549. In comparison, solar appliances manufactured in India are priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000.
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