1652069147

Location of the Proposed Project
Naghtana Village, which is located in Washim District, Maharashtra State, India.
The Problem
Nagthana is a farming village of approximately 150 farms. Each farm is between 1-10 acres.
TOTAL power available to the WHOLE village for ALL electric power needs is only 150,000 kWh
PER YEAR. Nearly 100% of all electric power consumed in Naghtana is transmitted through
the grid and generated by coal-fired power plants.
In order to plant a winter crop when rainfall is scarce (November-February), Naghtana farmers
must rely on coal-fired grid connected power to operate water pumps for irrigation. Because of
the scarcity of electric power in the village, farmers are forced to operate their water pumps in
the middle of the night (1-4AM) when there isn’t much other competition for power. The stress
on farmers of growing crops under these circumstances has contributed to an epidemic of
suicides among farmers.
The Challenge
With the exception of one (1) 6kW solar powered 5HP water pump for irrigation of a 6 acre farm,
Naghtana village has NO renewable energy. Presently the 150 farms in Naghtana village with
water pumps are connected to the grid operated by the Maharashtra State Electricity
Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL or MahaDiscom). The MahaDiscom power that feeds
Naghtana is fueled by a coal-fired power plant. The scarcity of electric power results in
curtailment of household power of up to six hours per day and curtailment of power to farms of
up to sixteen hours per day.
Type of Project
Sourcing, Installing and Deploying feed-in tariff ready grid connected 6kW solar powered 5HP
water pumps.
Capacity to be Installed
UVS aims to deploy solar water pumps on all 150 farms in Naghtana. At an estimated power
generation of 5000 kWh/year/farm, the total estimated power to be generated by all 150 solar
arrays would be ~750,000 kWh. That amount of solar power would be 5x the total power
currently available for the entire village!
Cost:
The estimated cost per solar water pump is 4-4.8 Lakh.

The Opportunity
With a CSR funding, UVS will be able to facilitate the transformation of farming and other
activities in the village by greatly increasing the supply and reliability of electricity in Naghtana.
For each of those 150 farms to have a solar water pump installed, for the villagers and for
Washim district, Maharashtra state and all of India there will be the following benefits:
A) reduction in GHGs emissions equal to the amount of electric power consumed in the
winter growing season to power water pumps for the participating farms;
B) because each water pump currently is grid connected and India has a feed-in tariff
program, the electric power generated by the solar arrays used to pump water in the
winter growing season can be supplied to the MahaDiscom grid during the 8 months
when the water pumps are not in use. This would both increase the amount of
renewable energy in the system and be a source of additional income to the farmers.
C) in the course of sourcing, installing and operating the CSR funded solar water pumps,
UVS will be able to develop a system for deploying solar water pumps to the other farms
in Washim District.
D) UVS will be able to initiate training of villagers in the installation and operation of solar
water pumps, thus increasing the skills of villagers and seeding new businesses.
E) The villagers will have more power available to them which will raise the standard of
living in the village, as the increased electricity will power more household appliances for
refrigeration, cooking, lighting, communication and education.
Project Description:
UVS and its team of volunteers (the UVS Team) will serve as project manager of the Solar Water Pumps
Project. In this capacity the UVS Team will create a plan to educate and organize the farmers around this
project. The UVS Team will organize meetings or meet individually with village farmers to describe the
project and explain how it will operate. It will determine and oversee all agreements which village
farmers may be required to enter into. These include either master or individual agreements with UVS,
MahaDiscom, EPC contractors, O &M contractors, etc. The UVS Team will write, issue and evaluate the
responses to an RFP from experienced solar water pump contractors for the design, engineering,
procurement, testing and training in the operation of the solar water pumps (the EPC Contract) and their
maintenance (the O & M Contact). The UVS Team also will be responsible for overseeing the
implementation of the EPC contract from execution through the successful operation of the solar water
pumps. In order to create maximum value from this project the UVS Team will undertake to conclude
one or multiple feed-in contract(s) with MahaDiscom. In this regard, the UVS Team will oversee the
establishment of accounting, billing/payment for solar energy generated, consumed and sold by each
farmer’s solar array.
Timeline of Proposed Project:

1. Months 1-6: hold meetings with farmers to familiarize them with the project, describe the
benefits to them and inform them of their obligations under the project. Fashion a
Memorandum of Intent between UVS and participating farmers.
2. Months 1-6: identify EPC candidates, draft and issue RFP for both construction and O & M.
Provide opportunities for EPC contractors to visit the village and evaluate the scope of the
project.
3. Months 1-6: initiate discussions with MahaDiscom about feed-in Tariff program for farmers who
have chosen to participate. Begin to structure an agreement(s) between MahaDiscom and
farmers individually or as a collective.
4. Months 1-6: develop plan to provide a portion of the excess solar energy produced by the
Project’s solar arrays either directly to village households or by increasing MAHADISCOM’s
supply of electric power to the village.
5. Month 7: finalize EPC, O & M and MahaDiscom agreements.
6. Months 7-10: build solar water pump project, including solar arrays, water pumps, electrical
connections, grid connections, metering, etc.
7. Months 10-11: test and troubleshoot the operation of the solar water pump systems.
8. Throughout the 11 month timeline of the project UVS will issue a monthly progress report to all
stakeholders.
Image Caption:Narayan Solanke, pictured in front of his 6kW solar powered, 5HP water
pump which irrigates his 6 acre farm.

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Location of the Proposed Project

Naghtana Village, which is located in Washim District, Maharashtra State, India.

The estimated cost per solar water pump is 4-4.8 Lakh.

Timeline of Proposed Project:

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