Energy For Livelihood
Close to 700 million people across the globe do not have access to electricity and out of them, close to 305 million are part of Indian rural households.
Schneider Electric is a global expert in Digital Energy Management and Automation. We at Schneider Electric believe that Access to Energy is the basic human right and every single one of us deserves to enjoy life at its best. This vision is also aligned with Sustainable development Goals (SDG) 7 of providing affordable and clean energy. We believe that Access to stable Electricity is the backbone of sustainable development in rural India. Access to electricity not only improves people’s quality of life but also destroys the circle of poverty by improving the efficiency of health and educational services, developing mobility, and promoting the development of local crafts, micro-industries & other services.
Thus, we decided to increase prosperity in rural India by increasing energy access and efficiency for livelihood and community development through our CSR efforts. As part of our inclusive growth agenda, we work towards providing clean, safe, and reliable energy even to the most remote areas of India without impacting the climate, under our Rural Electrification Program. Under this program, based on the requirement of the beneficiaries and suitability of the solution we offer the option of independent home lighting systems or a solar AC/DC Micro grid coupled with livelihood impacting projects like solar water pumping for domestic/ agricultural need & cereal milling.
The challenges that we are trying to solve under this initiative are described below:
One dimension of the challenge is to provide access to electricity at affordable cost and without endangering another collective resource - the Climate.
Another dimension of challenge in rural areas is that, technically, there is a gap in utilizing the solar PV capacity in rural areas. Often solar assets in rural areas go under or unutilized. For example, a solar water pumping system on an average is used for a maximum of 150 to 200 days per year, and for the remaining days it lies idle. At the same time for the sustainability of these assets, it’s of great importance to develop means and methods to maximize their utilization.
For the above challenge, we at Schneider Electric have come up with a sustainable technical solution under its award-winning flagship initiative "Energy for Livelihood."
The key features of the solution are:
Seamless powering of various Agro/domestic loads through renewable electricity along with lighting and solar water pump installation for water management.
The solution comes with advanced remote monitoring that provides vital system data and the creation of innovative energy as a service model.
Electricity access can catalyze integrated rural development by providing energy for the following rural needs:
Electricity for household lighting, street lighting, etc. for daily needs in off-grid and remote areas.
Electricity for the community and village to provide access to water for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, fish farming, rearing livestock which helps in the facilitation of their daily livelihood.
Electricity to power small scale agro-processing units like milk dairy, oil, and rice mills, etc. which impacts livelihood.
Outreach till date
• Provided access to clean energy to 12000+ farmers, and installed over 700 solar water pumps.
• Intervention in 10 affected aspirational districts mentioned by NITI Aayog.
The social impact created by the initiative
Our efforts have resulted in:
Improved crop yields and increased incomes, better irrigation management, enhanced crop resilience, and food security.
Reduced the effort and time spent by women in the daily livelihood of agriculture.
Utilized the solar energy in the rainy season to other income-generating activities of the villagers like rice husking or wheat crashing thus ensuring the better return on investment and a lesser payback period of the project and enhancing the quality of livelihood and income of the villagers.
Finally, an entrepreneur-based model can be established where the community can manage the system and can build a better living place for the locality which will ensure a sustainable model.
Enabling of connection of domestic loads through green energy, proper irrigation system, the lighting of households and streets, and planning of an entrepreneur model to maintain the system is a holistic approach to positively impact the livelihoods of the community.
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Testimonials
Help for Children in Need Foundation Pune had the opportunity to facilitate the CSR initiative of Schneider Electric India Foundation Through this initiative Schneider has lightened up the homes and the lives of over 600 families from the most marginalized communities in the Kushi Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Schneider has implemented the electrification directly with assistance from HCNF and its local partners Samudaik Kalyan Evam Vikas Sansthan (SKVS) and community leaders. The jobs are well done and the people are happy. The children can now read and write and learn better.
CJ George
Director - Help for Children In Need Foundation
As the President of the Energy Committee, I have been able to observe the range of changes in our village. With the coming of the lights, I see an increase in progress made by students in their academics as a result of being able to study longer hours and a visibly lesser degree of fear among our people of tigers at night. The tigers see the lights from a distance and choose to stay away, people are therefore more confident about mobility after dark. It is indeed a good feeling to feel less restricted! An increasing number of people in the neighboring villages are also developing an interest in the project having witnessed its simplicity and benefits. We congratulate the people involved in developing this solution and thank the programme for bringing light into our lives.
Harendranath Mondol
President - Electrification Committee
Village Annpur, Sundarbans
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The partners who give their valuable resources to fulfill our mission.
