If you spend some days in a rural Indian village, you’ll find that a steady, reliable supply of electricity is not common. While India has made visible progress in electrification, access alone has not solved the deeper issue of reliable and usable power in rural areas. It’s a key reason why power cuts are common in villages.
Even when electricity is available, the voltage fluctuates unpredictably, slowly damaging home appliances. Entire areas going dark after sunset are also part of the routine. Unfortunately, these are not occasional inconveniences, but a normal part of several villagers’ everyday lives.
At Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), positioned among the Top Environmental NGOs in India, we believe these problems can only be solved to a huge extent by harnessing the power of solar energy in villages. It’s why we launched a CSR project to power education and rural lives with clean energy. This practical, ground-level clean energy solution uses solar power to bring lasting improvements. Let us discuss more about it in this blog post today.
How Energy Gaps Affect Daily Life in Villages?
Energy gaps affect almost every area of rural life, but you can experience the maximum impact in the following three areas:
· Village Streets
Several areas in rural villages go dark after sunset due to poor lighting installations or unstable electricity connections. As a result, women, children, and elderly villagers often avoid stepping out at night for safety reasons. Even essential routes, such as those to schools, health centres, or local markets, become difficult to navigate once daylight fades.
· Rural Households
At the household level, inefficient lighting leads to higher consumption of electricity and hefty bills. This stands true even for families with limited income. What seems like a small inefficiency adds up month after month, quietly straining already tight budgets.
· Government Schools
In government schools in rural areas, electricity disruptions limit the use of fans, lights, computer labs, and other digital learning tools. Classrooms often become excessively hot during the summer months, which turns out to be a key reason for keeping children away from regular classrooms. Lessons that depend on technology are also frequently interrupted, creating obstacles in students’ learning journey. With time, such uncomfortable experiences affect both teaching quality and student engagement.
At Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), a NITI Aayog-registered, ISO 9001:2015-certified NGO, we don’t treat these experiences as isolated problems. Instead, we firmly believe they’re closely interconnected, and this is exactly why solving them requires more than short-term fixes.
Traditional Power Models Aren’t the Best Solution in Villages
Conventional electricity systems are built around centralised grids that work best in urban or semi-urban settings. However, when it comes to villages, these electricity systems become less dependable due to the associated maintenance challenges and infrastructure limitations.
Even when power reaches rural areas, it becomes difficult to ensure a consistent supply and uptime. This gap between connection and reliability leaves rural communities vulnerable.
Addressing the situation requires power solutions that are centralised, resilient, and adapted to local conditions rather than dependent on distant systems.
Solar Power: A Widely Practical Solution for Indian Villages
Solar power presents as a highly feasible solution for villages and underserved regions in India, primarily because it naturally aligns with rural India’s needs and geography. Most of the regions receive ample sunlight all through the year, making solar electricity a highly dependable and local energy source.
Unlike grid-based electricity, solar systems can function independently, which means people living in rural areas can enjoy power continuity even when the central supply fails.
To ensure this system works efficiently in villages, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), ranked among the Top Environmental NGOs in India, have implemented a holistic system that moves solar energy from a one-time installation to a sustainable solution.
Powering Education and Rural Lives through Clean Energy
To address the electricity issues in Indian Villages, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India) came up with an initiative that powers rural lives with clean energy, minimising the persistent electricity struggles in rural areas.
As part of this project, we’ve carried out the following integrated interventions across rural villages in Rajasthan and other Indian states:
· Installation of Solar Street Lights
Our volunteers working at the grassroots level identified priority locations that required immediate installation of solar street lights. They identified main roads, school routes, and other crucial locations, after which we installed standalone solar street lights with dusk-to-dawn operation.
We intentionally used high-efficiency LED luminaries with battery backup and involved local community members for monitoring and safeguarding these assets. This single step improved safety and security during night hours and reduced road accidents and crime rates. It even enhanced mobility for women, children, and elderly villagers.
· Distribution of LED Bulbs to Households
As a part of our solar energy project, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India) distributed energy-efficient LED bulbs to households, especially the BPL and low-income families. These 9W-12W LED bulbs helped reduce household electricity consumption and also lowered their overall electricity bills.
Besides distributing LED bulbs, our volunteers also organised awareness sessions on energy conservation and efficient electricity usage. It enabled rural villages to reduce their carbon footprint while improving indoor lighting quality.
· Installation of 10kW Off-Grid Solar Power Systems in Government Schools
We’ve installed 10kW off-grid solar photovoltaic systems with battery storage in various government schools. It has helped power classrooms, laboratories, computer rooms, fans, etc., with uninterrupted power during school hours.
We also offered training to the school staff on system operation and basic maintenance, enabling schools to reduce their dependence on grid electricity and diesel generators and achieve long-term savings on electricity expenses.
Conclusion
Solar energy may sound like an abstract environmental goal, but it’s the only practical solution for Indian villages as it fits their realities. It responds to power problems with reliable, locally suited solutions. This is the reason why we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), being one of the Top Environmental NGOs in India, chose not to implement our solar energy initiative on a superficial level but instead integrate it into villagers’ everyday lives, making it more than an energy source for them.
Today, solar energy has become a crucial enabler of school education, safety, and economic growth in countless Indian villages. At Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), we see solar power not as a one-time intervention, but as a long-term pathway toward safer communities. If you believe in creating brighter, self-reliant villages, join us in powering change. You can volunteer, donate, or partner with us to help bring clean, sustainable energy to more rural communities across India.
