Solar Microgrid Project with Gram Vikas in Maligaon, Odisha.
Our young fellow Eshaan Patheria, batch 2018-19 worked on a Solar Microgrid Project with Gram Vikas in Maligaon, Odisha. Over months of meetings and focused group discussions, Eshaan and the people of Maligaon identified what caused their old system to fail and accordingly chose new technologies that could resolve those old problems. Notably, these new technologies include lithium ferrophosphate (LFP) batteries that require zero maintenance. This is the first lithium battery based micro-grid in India. Every family in Maligaon volunteered in the renewal work –whether it was refurbishing the powerhouse for the batteries, digging new trenches for new solar panels and setting up new transmission and distribution lines across the village. The exciting part of this story has just begun. How the people of Maligaon will own and govern this system and how it will in turn support their lives and livelihoods over the next decade will give us new insights on how decentralized renewable en