Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated India’s first solar-powered village, Modhera in Gujarat. The project is worth Rs 3,900 Crores. Modi also stated that “with Narendra (Modi) and Bhupendra (Patel), Gujarat has a double engine sarkar and promise of speedy development.”
Both the central and state governments have invested over ₹80 crore in this solar-development project in two phases, with the state allotting 12 hectares of area for the project. People in the village can save 60% to 100% on their electricity bills with this move.
On this occasion, PM Modi said, “Today, a new energy of development has been infused for Modhera, Mehsana & the whole of North Gujarat. From electricity, water to road & rail. Many projects related to dairy, skill development and healthcare have been inaugurated & foundation stones have been laid today.”
“Now we will not pay for electricity, but start selling it & earn from it. Till a while back, the government used to supply electricity to citizens but now, with the installation of solar panels, citizens will produce their own electricity.” adds Modi.
Solar-powered village Modhera
The Modhera village is located 25 km from the Mehsana district of Gurajat, and about 100 km from the state capital of Gandhinagar. The village has a ground-mounted solar power plant, and over 1,300 rooftop solar systems with 1kW capacity have been installed on houses to generate electricity. All of these solar systems are linked to a battery energy storage system.
During the day, solar panels will provide power to the village, while in the evening, BESS, India’s first grid-connected megawatt hour scale battery energy storage system, will provide power to the houses.
