‘Do you know that the lights and the fans in our classroom run on sunlight?’ asks a student in an Anganwadi centre (under the Integrated Child Development Scheme) in a district in West Bengal where solar powered fans, lights, water purification devices, and solar cookers have been installed recently under a pilot project.This question promises a possibility that the youngsters will become ‘environmentally conscious’ in a natural way. Growing up with solar electricity may inculcate in them a habit of banking on solar alternatives.If we consider that human nature is also a part of nature and that human capability to protect the environment itself needs nourishment against the dominance of the anthropocenic view of the world, then children’s early exposure to the magic of sunlight in making a difference to our lives may reinforce a link between human development and environmental sustenance.Everything else also matters, including questions of equity and resource implications of a ‘micro-solar’ approach, issues of information and knowledge dissemination about solar technology for people to become aware of it and accept it, and the need for skill formation to use solar technology in a democratic fashion for self-reliance and freedom from corporate control.An idea that aims to actualise all these possibilities has to integrate several inter-related elements that have been thought of and tried out as part of an experimental project, mentioned above, modeled within the genre of ‘research for action’. But first, let us briefly describe the context within which the idea and practice of a micro-solar project is embedded.The contextAt least four issues in India are germane to this discussion, namely, widespread social inequalities, the neglect of primary healthcare and childcare, working poverty among the youth, and relatively feeble environmental protection responses in the country.The question is, what can be done right to tie up the goals of human development with those of environmental security, as well as align the social organisation of technology with the idea of human development.During the COVID-19 pandemic, unimaginable damage has been caused to our lives and livelihoods. The pandemic has distributed suffering across social classes, reproducing and exacerbating the pre-existing inequalities.And public institutions, in many parts of this continent-sized country, have not quite risen up to the challenges of ameliorating basic capability deprivations among the underprivileged sections of the society, in normal and in times of a crisis.Research shows, for example, that Anganwadi centres that are meant to fulfil some of the core nutritional and educational requirements of children, especially those in the urban areas, are usually housed in small poorly lit and poorly ventilated rooms of local clubs, often having no separate kitchen facilities or angans (courtyards).Children are, therefore, exposed to toxic kerosene fumes due to cooking inside the classroom. Also, sometimes, due to makeshift lighting arrangements in such one-room centres, electrical wires can be seen dangling from the ceiling, creating a hazardous condition for children.In the absence of any facilities for running water, children are made to wash their hands in a single bowl of water before eating, causing risks of contamination.Also read: Acute Shortage of Teachers, Lack of Water and Power Supply Ail Jharkhand Schools: ReportLow-cost lighting and fan systems, and purified water are some of the prospects of off-grid, standalone solar electricity. These are attractive and viable prospects, provided there is opportunity for skills acquisition in these fields and follow-up employment opportunity for the trained people.Such prospects, however, pale as compared to the perilous conditions of joblessness that prevail in the current ‘era of an unemployed India’.Informal workers, mostly unskilled, especially those in the age group of 18 to 25 years and belonging to underprivileged backgrounds, and already at the lower end of labour incomes, have faced the biggest job cuts and income losses, thereby deepening existing labour income inequality.It is in this context that a solar training project for people may be envisaged, for their further trainability and employability. But before going into the description of such an ongoing experimental project, it is time to ask: what kind of solar and why?A worker installs a solar powered lamp in a public park in Chennai. Credit: Reuters/Stringer/Files‘Micro-solar’ developmentConventionally, solar electricity is mostly generated in the country by stringing together large numbers of high-power solar panels. Such solar panel arrays are often installed on the rooftops of public buildings or on the ground in empty barren regions like solar parks.The direct current (DC) electricity, which is what a solar panel generates, is converted into high-tension alternating current (AC) by inverters and fed into the transmission electricity grid for distribution to the public.However, this does not constitute direct use of solar energy by the end-user, since the electricity company is the direct beneficiary. Further, maintenance and repair of such on-grid ‘rooftop solar electricity generation’ or ‘solar parks’ need specialised training whose lack often leads to the disuse of these expensive facilities.Moreover, such high-tension installations suffer from acute and complex fire hazard possibilities. Finally, there is no involvement of the end-user local population in installation and maintenance of these facilities, so their energy needs may remain unsatisfied.In contrast, people can use off-grid, standalone solar electricity, which is generated in small amounts, in a completely decentralised manner, by utilising sunlight the way they want it. This is low voltage electricity, without any shock and fire hazards, and is available at a low cost and is efficient.This is perhaps how solar electricity is best utilised, and in principle, is immediately available to every individual and community, in a democratic and participatory manner. Thus, this micro-solar approach of people’s access to green energy may be viewed as an enabling aspect of human empowerment. In short, it may both power and empower India.Workers carry photovoltaic solar panels for installation at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village in Patan district of Gujarat April 14, 2012. Credit: ReutersAmit Dave/FilesSolar entrepreneurshipResearch shows that many people lack access to reliable electricity supply and that off-grid solar technologies can improve this situation. However, solar adoption by households remains low due to ‘information barriers’.One way to reduce this information and adoption deficit, we argue, is to try to involve people not just as users or customers but as ‘micro-producers’ of solar electricity, with some basic training in solar energy use without requiring specialised technology.For that reason, an experimental training initiative has been undertaken with an aim to integrate the idea of environmentally safe energy security and livelihood security.More specifically, the aim is to enable youngsters to acquire adequate expertise in handling solar panels and associated equipment like batteries, LED lights, fans, water purification systems, solar cookers, etc. Hands-on training is being provided using solar panels, batteries, LED bulbs, SMD-LED lights, BLDC fans, C-spectrum UV LEDs for solar water purification.The training involves using basic electronic tools like multimeters, soldering irons, and devices like diodes and transistors. The trainees are also learning to measure currents and voltages using multimeters, proper utilisation of solar panels to charge batteries and various low-voltage solar-powered devices under different circumstances.They are acquiring the expertise to set up solar panels on rooftops at homes, on their own, and also maintain associated equipment, so that, under favourable circumstances, they may think of a start-up solar electricity company in remote areas, thus adding to the local economy.This approach intends to use the greatest individual freedom afforded by solar energy, to make their own electricity at home from sunlight, as much as and whenever they want, without having to depend on corporate or centralised agencies.Those who go through such a skill development programme can form the backbone of a ‘solar economy’ to be set up in their neighbourhoods.Upon completion of such preliminary training, such technicians can either get employment in the emerging sustainable energy organisations that are coming up around the country, or engage in opening small start-up firms locally to fabricate and maintain solar electrical appliances. These are, of course, possibilities that are to be actualised and sustained.However, as we briefly narrate below, these trainees have made use of their newly acquired skills in setting up solar panels and associated equipment at an Anganwadi centre in the neighbourhood, to enable this place with freely available electricity, and thereby, make a real difference to the lives of both the teachers and the students at this centre.Also read: The Afterlife of Solar PanelsSeparately, most of the trainees under this pilot initiative belong to the disadvantaged and minority communities, having modest economic means and residing in suburban and rural locations.A majority of them are women, who travel long distances to attend classes regularly, even after taking care of several other daily responsibilities. They are either high school graduates or college students and do not necessarily have a science background.Bridging the resource gapThe sequence of this experiment, with its step-by-step progression, brings us to the phase of installation of some basic solar-powered devices, such as lights, fans, water purifiers, and solar cookers in a selected Anganwadi centres in the neighbourhood of the training venue. There are at least three underlying motivations that prompt this action.First, Anganwadi centres under the ICDS programme are hard hit by the recent budget cuts that are further eroding their already skeletal infrastructural resources such as sporadic grid electric supply as well as their capacity to manage fuel costs to cook midday meals for children amid rising food and fuel prices.To amend these deficiencies in a public institution, sunlight ought to be used to the fullest extent possible, for cheap and accessible financing options.Second, the youngsters equipped with the skills in basic solar energy technology can play the role of ‘barefoot’ technicians in their respective neighbourhoods and offer their services to the local Anganwadi centres for installation and maintenance of solar-powered devices.Third, this project has led to community mobilisation in a locality that is not prosperous, but eager to participate in a collective initiative like this.This centre is without a courtyard or an easily accessible terrace, but the solution to place the solar cookers was provided by a neighbour who readily offered access to her terrace.The ‘global green new deal’ that Chomsky and Pollin talk about to fight the climate crisis has to have a ‘local’ green community that will constitute the quotidian micro-foundation of any macro-plan to save the planet. Therefore, micro-solar initiatives are in the interest of human development and environmental protection.Note: This pilot project, involving components of training in solar technology knowledge and expertise and installation of a few basic solar-powered devices, has been carried out during February and November 2022 by the Pratichi (India) Trust, in collaboration with Deeniyat Muallima College, Howrah, West Bengal. The role of the entire Pratichi research team is warmly acknowledged here.
