Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on October 9 declare Modhera village, which is home to the famous Sun Temple, as India’s first solar-powered village, the Gujarat government said on Thursday.
“I am happy that Gujarat has once again taken the lead in fulfilling the Prime Minister’s vision of generating clean energy. We are committed to fulfilling his resolve of producing 50% of India’s energy requirements through renewable energy by 2030,” Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said in a statement.
The central and state government initiated the ‘Solarisation of Modhera Sun Temple and Town’ to provide round-the-clock solar energy to Modhera through the Solar Power project integrated with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Sujjanpura in Mehsana, about 6km from the Sun Temple, Modhera.
“Through this project, Modhera is the first village in India to become a net renewable energy generator,” according to the Gujarat government statement. People will save 60% to 100 % on electricity bills with this project, the statement added.
“Use of solar power has increased prosperity amongst citizens. Power bills, which were above ₹1,000, have almost reduced to zero today. Solar panels have been installed at all feasible houses, free of cost. In case of excess power, we earn extra income too,” according to Jatanben Thakor, Sarpanch of Modhera.
As per the 2011 census, Modhera village in Becharaji Taluka has a population of 6,373 people. The Gujarat government allotted 12 hectares for the development of the project. An amount of Rs 80.66 crores was spent by the Centre and state in two phases.
More than 1,300 rooftop solar systems of 1 kW capacity have been installed on houses that generate electricity in the village. The daytime power is supplied through solar panels. In the evening, the BESS provides power supply to the houses. The statement described Modhera as the first modern village with a solar-based ultra-modern electric vehicle charging station.
Another distinction of this project is that it is India’s first grid-connected mega-watt hour scale battery energy storage system. The heritage lighting and 3-D projection that is used to exhibit Modhera’s history at the Modhera Sun temple will operate on solar energy. A protected archaeological site, Modhera’s Sun Temple will get a 3-D projection facility on October 9. The solar-powered 3-D projection will be dedicated by PM Modi.
PM Modi during his three-day visit from October 9 will inaugurate various development projects in his home state of Gujarat.
