Raju Singh is 70-years-old and on November 24, for the first time in his life, he switched on an electric light in his home in a village in the desert in Rajasthan.
He had tears in his eyes as the ABB India team connected the low-energy light to the battery which had been charged during the day from a photo voltaic panel (SVP) on the thatched roof of his home.
For many here, ABB’s Access to Electricity program has transformed their lives. Since 2006 more than 6,000 people living in 1,112 homes in the seven remote villages in the region have benefited from the program.
The model is a simple one: the home lighting system comprises an SVP, low-maintenance battery and charge controller and three energy-efficient lights. The $375 cost of the system is split three ways: the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, ABB and the householder. In other access to electricity models around the world, systems provided free were not maintained, whereas ABB’s model gives the householders real ownership and their investment in the equipment gives them an interest in maintaining it.
But ABB’s drive to install these systems in areas where the grid will take a long time to connect is not simple corporate philanthropy; this program makes a huge difference to the health, welfare, education and earning power of these communities. Their earnings come from tailoring and making durris – patterned rugs - for buyers in Jodhpur, a three hour overland journey, part of which is over the desert sand.
Before electric lighting, the tailors and weavers were forced to work during daylight hours which in the summer meant sewing or weaving in searing 40+ degree heat. Now they can work flexible hours and can begin before dawn and continue after sunset in the relatively cooler temperatures. The lighting, which replaced open kerosene lamps, has enabled the weavers to double their output and tailors have achieved a 30-40 percent increase in productivity. The good lighting also enables the tailors and weavers to maintain a crucial level of accuracy in their work. In some cases, one flaw in a durri would make it worth considerably less than an accurate one.
And now the villagers are even more keen for their children to get a good education which can lead to good jobs elsewhere or more skilled workers in the family business. Some weavers are now receiving orders showing patterns required on computer print-outs which they have to work hard to understand. ABB and electric light has had a part to play in facilitating a doubling of numbers in the local school from 45 in 2006 to 103 in 2008. Again, flexible working hours in the schools, lit by their own solar-powered lighting systems and additional classrooms funded by ABB all contributed to making the schools popular. In addition, there is the continuing drive by parents for their children to be educated as an investment in a better family business where computer print-outs may not continue to be such a challenge.
From a health and safety perspective, the low-heat bulbs have replaced open kerosene lamps – effectively a flame from a rag wick, pushed into the neck of an ordinary bottle that is filled with the fuel. As a result, there has been a reduction in incidents of respiratory illnesses and eye problems caused by the fumes, while the risk of setting fire to the dry thatched houses was great and there were regular reports of death and injury caused by such fires.
There have been some unintended successes from to the access to electricity program. There is a large military communications infrastructure in the desert here and civilian mobile phones have been given access. Virtually every home has a mobile now and the daily three or four hour trek to a fixed phone to inform buyers when orders were ready for collection or to ask for further commissions has been eliminated and the cottage businesses can operate more like a ‘just in time’ logistics organization. Contact between relatives living in this sparsely populated area has also improved and become more convenient through the use of the phones.
A second benefit is the formation of a service organization which charges residents a nominal monthly fee for looking after and maintaining the lighting systems. At more than 1,000 units, there was enough revenue for the original technician to start a small business employing his neighbors. Now he has about 30 part-time employees who are trained to carry out the maintenance.
In addition to access to electricity – something most people take for granted - ABB’s involvement in the villages has also identified other areas where a partnership approach can bring huge benefits to the community. One is the provision of convenient, fresh water. ABB has paid for covered concrete reservoirs in several villages, the connecting pipeline to the mains water supply up to three kilometers away from the villages. This saves up to four hours a day for women who used to walk through the desert to the supply point with 15 litre pots on their heads – a daily, four hour task. Now they have much more time for other productive tasks and can generally be more flexible about cooking times, childcare and looking after their small flocks of goats. And using a variation on the access to electricity model, ABB paid for the materials for the project, while much of the laboring on the construction and simple pipe-laying was carried out by the villagers as their contribution to the scheme. In total, the latest reservoir and connection cost $4,000.
This partnership between communities and ABB is always developing and during a visit to the villages, ABB staff were asked to become involved in improving the facilities for mothers when they give birth. Presently, in the worst case, the local midwife must travel to the patient and delivers the child at the mother’s home, where the lighting is not sufficient for a safe delivery. Initially, the midwife asked ABB for two rechargeable battery-powered lamps that she could take with her on deliveries in village homes. Following that discussion, ABB is now investigating the feasibility of building and equipping a purpose-built delivery room at a convenient location.
He had tears in his eyes as the ABB India team connected the low-energy light to the battery which had been charged during the day from a photo voltaic panel (SVP) on the thatched roof of his home.
For many here, ABB’s Access to Electricity program has transformed their lives. Since 2006 more than 6,000 people living in 1,112 homes in the seven remote villages in the region have benefited from the program.
The model is a simple one: the home lighting system comprises an SVP, low-maintenance battery and charge controller and three energy-efficient lights. The $375 cost of the system is split three ways: the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, ABB and the householder. In other access to electricity models around the world, systems provided free were not maintained, whereas ABB’s model gives the householders real ownership and their investment in the equipment gives them an interest in maintaining it.
But ABB’s drive to install these systems in areas where the grid will take a long time to connect is not simple corporate philanthropy; this program makes a huge difference to the health, welfare, education and earning power of these communities. Their earnings come from tailoring and making durris – patterned rugs - for buyers in Jodhpur, a three hour overland journey, part of which is over the desert sand.
Before electric lighting, the tailors and weavers were forced to work during daylight hours which in the summer meant sewing or weaving in searing 40+ degree heat. Now they can work flexible hours and can begin before dawn and continue after sunset in the relatively cooler temperatures. The lighting, which replaced open kerosene lamps, has enabled the weavers to double their output and tailors have achieved a 30-40 percent increase in productivity. The good lighting also enables the tailors and weavers to maintain a crucial level of accuracy in their work. In some cases, one flaw in a durri would make it worth considerably less than an accurate one.
And now the villagers are even more keen for their children to get a good education which can lead to good jobs elsewhere or more skilled workers in the family business. Some weavers are now receiving orders showing patterns required on computer print-outs which they have to work hard to understand. ABB and electric light has had a part to play in facilitating a doubling of numbers in the local school from 45 in 2006 to 103 in 2008. Again, flexible working hours in the schools, lit by their own solar-powered lighting systems and additional classrooms funded by ABB all contributed to making the schools popular. In addition, there is the continuing drive by parents for their children to be educated as an investment in a better family business where computer print-outs may not continue to be such a challenge.
From a health and safety perspective, the low-heat bulbs have replaced open kerosene lamps – effectively a flame from a rag wick, pushed into the neck of an ordinary bottle that is filled with the fuel. As a result, there has been a reduction in incidents of respiratory illnesses and eye problems caused by the fumes, while the risk of setting fire to the dry thatched houses was great and there were regular reports of death and injury caused by such fires.
There have been some unintended successes from to the access to electricity program. There is a large military communications infrastructure in the desert here and civilian mobile phones have been given access. Virtually every home has a mobile now and the daily three or four hour trek to a fixed phone to inform buyers when orders were ready for collection or to ask for further commissions has been eliminated and the cottage businesses can operate more like a ‘just in time’ logistics organization. Contact between relatives living in this sparsely populated area has also improved and become more convenient through the use of the phones.
A second benefit is the formation of a service organization which charges residents a nominal monthly fee for looking after and maintaining the lighting systems. At more than 1,000 units, there was enough revenue for the original technician to start a small business employing his neighbors. Now he has about 30 part-time employees who are trained to carry out the maintenance.
In addition to access to electricity – something most people take for granted - ABB’s involvement in the villages has also identified other areas where a partnership approach can bring huge benefits to the community. One is the provision of convenient, fresh water. ABB has paid for covered concrete reservoirs in several villages, the connecting pipeline to the mains water supply up to three kilometers away from the villages. This saves up to four hours a day for women who used to walk through the desert to the supply point with 15 litre pots on their heads – a daily, four hour task. Now they have much more time for other productive tasks and can generally be more flexible about cooking times, childcare and looking after their small flocks of goats. And using a variation on the access to electricity model, ABB paid for the materials for the project, while much of the laboring on the construction and simple pipe-laying was carried out by the villagers as their contribution to the scheme. In total, the latest reservoir and connection cost $4,000.
This partnership between communities and ABB is always developing and during a visit to the villages, ABB staff were asked to become involved in improving the facilities for mothers when they give birth. Presently, in the worst case, the local midwife must travel to the patient and delivers the child at the mother’s home, where the lighting is not sufficient for a safe delivery. Initially, the midwife asked ABB for two rechargeable battery-powered lamps that she could take with her on deliveries in village homes. Following that discussion, ABB is now investigating the feasibility of building and equipping a purpose-built delivery room at a convenient location.
