Inside Madhya Pradesh’s first solar-powered town

Located around 46 km from Bhopal, the town of more than 8,000 residents used to have its power needs met by hydro and thermal projects.

Now, more than 1,600 homes as well as government buildings rely largely on a 3 megawatt (MW) solar facility located on a hill in Nagori village.

The 5,572 solar panels spread over an area of 4.98 hectares ensure supply from 9 am to 4 pm – “more than adequate to cover Sanchi’s morning load of around 1.5 MW” and “reduce 13,747 tonnes of carbon emissions annually”, officials said.

Sanchi Stupa has transforming itself into Madhya Pradesh’s first solar-powered town. (Express Photo)

In a month’s time, another similar facility in Gulgaon village, which will house a 5 MW solar facility equipped with 11,722 solar panels spread over 11 acres, will take care of the evening and night load.

“The message of peace had once been sent out into the world from Sanchi. Now, Sanchi will be a pioneer in solar energy,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on September 6.

According to officials, the state has increased its “renewable (energy) capacity by 11 times”, to “about 24 per cent of its installed capacity”. In the last decade, solar energy capacity has “increased by 52 per cent”.

This transformation had started with pilot projects in the heritage cities of Khajuraho and Sanchi, and the “learnings of the project will be used to develop major cities”, officials said.

Sanjay Dubey, principal secretary at the state energy department, said: “This is only the beginning – to showcase that cities can independently supply sufficient energy. This model, if scaled up, can actually serve as an example that others need to follow. Madhya Pradesh is fortunately blessed with both solar and wind potential, it also has a lot of water bodies, and free land. This, along with good policy, gives us an advantage to make the transition into green energy.”

The Gulgaon solar facility is expected to be finished in November and the city will be solar powered 24*7. (Express Photo)

‘Easy upkeep, low maintenance’

The plant currently providing Sanchi with solar power is located 2 km from town, in Nagori village. A road lined with solar-powered street lights leads to the solar plant atop a rocky hill. Work at the project had started on February 6, with a Gujarat-based company, Goldi Solar Pvt Ltd, tasked with constructing the facility.

Mayur Barvaliya, assistant manager at the firm, said Sanchi’s location near the tropic of cancer was a major advantage as it gives it the best chance of getting the most sunlight. The Nagori facility, he said, was built for Rs 18 crore – “this is very cheap compared to traditional sources of energy. It doesn’t need much upkeep, and the maintenance cost is low.”

Kathiravan R, the commissioning engineer at the company, helped set up the Nagori plant and has now been tasked with setting up the Gulgaon facility, with a budget of around Rs 32 crore. “It is possible to quickly install a solar plant; I just need a civil, mechanical and electrical engineer, and some support staff,” he said.

Cloudy skies are the major impediment to solar energy. While the Nagori facility generates 15,000 units of energy per day on average, during rainy weather it is only able to generate 10,000-12,000 units, Goldi Solar officials said.

However, Kathiravan expects that once the Gulgaon facility comes up, weather variations won’t be an issue as there will be enough power in reserve.

A street lined with solar panels at Nagori village. (Express Photo)

‘When will my energy bill go down?’

While most residents have received the project positively, there are some hiccups.

Daulat Singh (60), a tailor, pointed out that even though the source of the electricity has changed, residents are still paying the same amount in electricity bills.

“They have got a solar plant, but when will my energy bill go down?” he asked.

Manish Shrivastava, the in-charge at Sanchi energy department, said reducing the price of electricity was under consideration. “Currently residents will not see a reduction in their bills. We are in the process of deliberations to ensure people get a reduced bill. Those with their own solar panels are now getting the most benefit.”

The local electricity department has been encouraging people to install their own solar panels at their premises, and have also been offering subsidies to buy the panels. Officials say this is one way individuals can significantly reduce their electricity bills.

Brothers Kamal Kishore Patel (52), Prem Patel (50), and Sanju Patel (42) are among those who have taken the plunge. They spent Rs 2 lakh to install panels that produce 3 kilowatts of electricity.

Kamal Kishore, who was the first of the three to get the panels installed, said his electricity bill has gone down from Rs 6,000 a month to Rs 1,200. Prem said in the two months that he has had the panels, he paid only Rs 200 and Rs 300 for electricity, compared to an average of Rs 5,000 that he used to pay earlier. Sanju said his bill has gone down to Rs 2,800 from Rs 10,000.

“All my friends now want the solar panel, but it is so expensive, they can’t afford it,” Prem said.

The 3 MW solar facility in Nagori village. (Express Photo)

Note of caution

However, amid excitement about solar energy in the area, Chetan Singh Solanki, a professor at the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay and MP government’s brand ambassador for solar energy, cautioned that every form of energy has downsides and that it is important to reduce the consumption of energy itself in order to address the problem of climate change.

“There is a price to pay for everything. Every manufacturing technology has side effects. When you mine silicon, process it, make modules, cables, invertors, every processing has a side effect. The best thing to do is not to use energy. People are just blindly switching to solar, but are not aware about the side effects,” Solanki said.

He has been conducting a solar literacy programme for the residents of Sanchi. “They have been taught to avoid or minimise the use of energy, use efficient appliances, and generate one-third of the energy they use in order to be sustainable. Otherwise, even solar energy will have a negative impact on the environment, even if it is much better than coal,” he said.