MPRLP UPDATE SERIES NO.
5
SOLAR LIGHTING
Bringing light
to the lives
of remote
communities
in Sheopur
Most rural households in India suffer
as a result of low incomes and lack of
access to affordable and reliable
energy. As a result, they are forced to
light their homes with kerosene lamps,
which provide little light, cause
respiratory problems and can easily
cause house fires.
As part of its mandate to reduce
poverty (including energy poverty) in
around 2900 villages in Madhya
Pradesh, the Madhya Pradesh Rural
Livelihoods Project (MPRLP) has been
helping the government agency, the
Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam
(MPUVN), to provide climate-friendly
solar lighting to project villages in the
Sheopur district.
The benefits
Improved health and safety
Having solar home lighting means
people are no longer exposed to the
fumes and smoke given off by
kerosene lamps – which cause eye
problems and serious lung diseases.
This is particularly beneficial for
women, who spend a lot of time in
smoky environments at home. Use of
solar lights also greatly cuts down the
chances of house fires occurring.
Solar street lighting has also reduced
anti-social behaviour at night – women
Out at night in Sheopur district. Photo: © MPRLP/A M Faruqui
and children in particular are much less
likely to suffer attacks in well lit
villages. Having more light in the
project villages has also cut down the
number of night-time scorpion stings
and snake bites, which are a common
problem.
More time for income-earning
and study
Other general but important benefits of
solar lighting include the fact that
children can now study at night and
parents can do income-earning
activities (like making incense sticks)
or interact with their neighbours, rather
than simply having to go straight to
sleep when it gets dark.
A good example of
convergence
The success of the solar lighting
initiative is a good example of how
various departments and agencies can
work together to achieve common
goals more effectively for the benefit of
the poor. In this case, MPRLP joined
the solar lighting project at the request
of the District Collector to build on and
help implement work already done by
the MPUVN, which is responsible for
implementing energy projects on
behalf of the government.
“Children can now
study at night and
parents can do income-
earning activities”
Achievements so far
As of August 2010, the work (in
which MPRLP plays the role of
facilitator) has involved the
installation of solar lighting in
1279 households in 13 villages. A
further 125 street lights have also
been installed as part of the
project (one street light for every
ten households covered under the
programme). The total installation
costs of 1.5 crore (approximately
Rs. 11,750 per household,
including the cost of street lights)
have been borne by the
Government of India's Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) through the MPUVN.
MADHYA PRADESH RURAL
LIVELIHOODS PROJECT

What was MPRLP's role? Community inputs

MPRLP's key role was to mobilise the
villagers and create awareness of the
benefits of solar lighting in order to
encourage them to take part in the
government scheme. This was no easy
task because the villagers did not trust
the new lighting systems, especially in
terms of the systems' ability to keep
working long term. As a result, the
process of mobilising the communities
took several months.
What made MPRLP the perfect partner
to play the role of persuader and
facilitator was the fact that it has a
strong presence on the ground in 14
out of the 20 villages being targeted. It
had already been working on providing
other decentralised, renewable energy
services such as biogas to the
communities.
Each lighting module (solar panel,
battery, lamp) cost Rs. 9000 per home,
with installation work beginning in
October 2009. Families were asked to
contribute a token sum ranging from
Rs. 100 to Rs. 200, depending on their
income level. In some villages,
families' initial contributions were
funded by the Gram Kosh (Village
Development Fund) in the form of a
loan, which was repaid by the families
after the solar home lighting system
had been installed.
Helping the villagers realise that they
really would benefit long term from
contributing to the project was one of
the major challenges MPRLP had to
overcome. However, after lights were
installed in the first five or six villages,
contributions came easily from the rest,
as people could see the benefits of
solar lighting.
The way ahead
 Establish stronger links with
MNRE and private partners to
provide solar energy.
 Train field staff in technical
and operational aspects of the
solar lighting systems.
 Create entrepreneurs at the
Gram Panchayat level who can
maintain the systems.
 Widen the scale of operations
and engage with multiple
vendors to solve the problem
of supply of parts and
accessories.
 Put in place a robust
monitoring system to monitor
system performance and
repayment of loans.

Contact
Telephone: +91-(0)755-2766812,
814, 815
Fax: +91-(0)755-2766818
Email: mprlp@mprlp.in
Website: www.mprlp.in

MPRLP is funded by the UK Department for

International Development (DFID).

This publication does not necessarily represent

Children studying under solar lighting . Photo: © MPRLP/A M Faruqui the views of the Department for International
Development.

“MPRLP’s role was to mobilise villagers and create

awareness of the benefits of solar lighting”