Our Values

INTRODUCTION AND RURAL LIGHTING SITUATION 

70% of the India’s population lives in rural areas in approximately 6 Lakh villages. After independence efforts are made to connect every village with the grid power. Villages need electricity for lighting, running home appliances, small power consuming services like grinding and for agriculture applications. Due to geographical and cost considerations still sizable percent of villages /hamlets are not connected with grid power.  In case the average distance from the power line is 20 KMs it costs approximately 20 Lakhs rupees to connect the village. Needless to say that substantial amounts are needed to maintain the line, transformer and there will be heavy line losses. Finally if the village population is less than 100 meaning 20 houses, it becomes most unviable to supply and maintain the regular power. The hamlets situated in dense forests and the ones located far away from the power lines are generally thinly inhabited and power requirements at the moment are for communication and lighting. It is proposed to use the low power consuming LED lighting with very low investments in one sample un electrified village  and demonstrate the capability and usefulness of the LEDs thus facilitating large scale application in all the rural areas.

SOLAR ENERGY IN INDIA  

Solar energy is the earliest source of energy known to mankind and is also the origin of other forms of energy used by man. Energy from the sun has many salient features, which make it an attractive option. These include wide-spread distribution, lack of pollution and a virtually inexhaustible supply.  India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5000 trillion KWhr/year, which is far more than the total energy consumption of the country. The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 -7 KWhr/m2 depending upon the location. 

India today has among the world’s largest programmes in Solar Energy. The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources is implementing countrywide programmes on: 

In India there are about 300 clear sunny days in a year and solar energy is widely available in most parts of the country. Solar photovoltaic technologies offer a unique decentralized option for providing electricity locally.

A country wide Solar Photovoltaic Programme is being implemented by the Ministry for about last two decades. The Programme is aimed at developing the cost effective PV technology and its applications for large scale diffusion in different sectors, specially in rural and remote areas. Major components of PV programme include, R&D, Demonstration and Utilization, Testing & Standardization, Industrial and Promotional activities. The following PV systems are covered under the programmes of MNES: 

Solar Street Lighting Systems, Solar Lanterns, Home Lighting Systems/Solar Home Systems; 

Stand-alone PV Power Plants; 

Solar PV water pumping systems for agriculture and related uses; 

ISSUES WITH THE PRESENT SOLAR LIGHTING SYSTEMS 

1. They use florescent lightening (tube lights big or compact ones (CFL) lights )  which consumes less electricity than the filament based incandescent (normal) bulbs but still is considerable. 
2. To electricity a small hamlet populated by 100 residents, it can cost approximately 5 Lakhs rupees without subsidy. 
3. Since there are many storage batteries required the maintenance and their replacement cost is very heavy.  
4. The bulbs/ lights fail once in 6 months or so and require maintenance thus complicating the usage in a small inaccessible village. Battery storage and periodic maintenance are the main factor for the dysfunction of many of the installed systems. 

PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE LIGHTING WITH LEDs

It is proposed to use the modern lighting product (WHITE LEDs) in an alternative model. They consume very less energy and last more than 20 years of normal use and require very less battery storage capacity.  Main features of the proposed plan are: 

1. Only one 40 amps 12 volts battery is proposed to be used for a hamlet of 100 population 
2. The battery is charged though a single 37 watt solar panel and usually charged in a single sunny day. 
3. It is proposed to install around 3 to 4 LED bulb units in each house. 
4. It is proposed to install around 40 units for street lighting. 
5. Since the consumption of electricity is very less there is no need to switch them of in the late night. 
6. Day lighting automatic switch is used, and the system switches on and off automatically in the day and night times. 
7. The battery requires just tapping with water once in 6 months. 

TECHNICAL FEATURES OF  LEDs 

White LEDs are ‘Light Emitting Diodes’, a type of semiconductor.  They are the newest item in today’s lighting technology. Unlike other light sources, these WHITE LEDs can take a lot of punishment from vibration, heat and severe cold.    WHITE LEDs can be made waterproof, and put into a lighting package with 2 to 1000 WHITE LEDs. They can be used for street lights, sign lighting, spot lighting or anything else.  

WHITE LEDs need 3.6VDC and use approximately 30 milliamps of current, a power dissipation of 110 milliwatts.  The positive power is applied to one side of the LED semiconductor through a lead and a whisker. The other side of the semiconductor is attached to the top of the anvil that is the negative power lead.  It is the chemical makeup of the LED semiconductor that determines the color of the light that the LED produces. The plastic housing has three functions: it is designed to allow the most light to escape from the semiconductor; it focuses the light, and it protects the semiconductor from the elements. 

 Some Basic Facts About White LEDs  

 White LEDs can be placed in abusive environments. 

 White LEDs can be “AC” or “DC” powered depending on the model. 

 White LEDs are the newest lighting device on the market today. 

 White LEDs do not produce “RF” to interfere with radio equipment. 

 White LEDs are a proven technology. 

 White LEDs last about 100, 000 hours of continuous use. 

 White LEDs radiate light at a 15 to 45 degree angle depending on the model. 

 White LEDs can be made completely waterproof for use in many marine applications. 

 White LEDs are polarity protected, so it is hard to make an installation mistake.