Baripatha: First Village In Odisha To Be Powered Entirely By Solar Energy

Source: The Times of India | Image Courtesy: Khabarindia

October 2 this year marked a life-changing transition for the people of Baripatha, a village about 25 km southwest of Bhubaneswar. It made history by becoming the first village in the state to be powered entirely by solar energy.

Baripatha’s solar power model is low-cost, low-maintenance and community-owned – elements that are missing in other solar-powered projects across the country. Senior IPS officer Joydeep Nayak said “This model can be replicated all over Odisha to provide power to its nearly 3,900 villages,”.

The project cost Rs. 7 lakh and was co-funded by ECCO Electronics and Jackson Group. They put individual solar units with two lamps in each of the village’s 61 households, along with a central one-kilowatt unit that powers eight street lamps, and an LED television set and a TV set-top box for the community centre.

Jakson’s executive vice-president Sandip Ghosh said “Till now, in all rural solar projects, central units would supply power to households. Often, the exposed cables would be tapped by some, while others would draw more than their shares. This would cause the central unit to overload and trip,”. These problems have been resolved by providing individual units to each household.

Read the full article on The Times of India