IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2014 - 26

kerosene and biomass in traditional ways have direct
impacts on global warming. the success of this pilot project and multifaceted benefits enable larger-scale deployments of solar energy units in the sundarban region.
microgrids can also address the livelihood issues of communities as demonstrated by the gram power microgrids
and gram vikas Biogas-based systems. these microgrids aim
to provide reliable, affordable power to the 2.7 billion world
poor living without it. they also help skill building and
ensure sustainable livelihoods in rural households.
gram power was involved in setting up india's first
solar-powered smart microgrid in the rajasthan hamlet of
Khareda lakshmipura in march 2012, providing energy for
rural households. gram power's core innovation is their
smart distribution technology with smart meters and grid
monitoring systems to provide on-demand, theft-proof
power with a unique pay-as-you-use schedule that is
determined by the end user. the gram power systems
enable local village entrepreneurs to purchase bulk energy
credits from gram power and transfer them to individual
smart meters in the village. once recharged, the meters
can be used to operate a variety of household appliances
and other devices. importantly, gram
power's microgrids can be integrated
with the utility grid.
gram vikas is an indian nongovernmental organization based in orissa and founded in 1979. gram vikas
works on creating livelihood-enabling
infrastructure and renewable energy
systems. the organization actively
implements community-based renewable energy programs using biodiesel,
biogas, microhydro, smokeless chullas,
and solar pv applications to provide energy access to rural
households.

the Biomass energy for rural india project, sponsored
by the global environmental facility united nations Development program, india-canada environmental facility
(gef-unDp, icef), the government of india, and the government of Karnataka, a 500-kW biomass power plant
established near Kabbigere village in thovinkere gram
panchayat in the state of Karnataka, is another initiative
with an aim of implementing a decentralized bioenergy
technology for rural india. it uses locally available biomass
to supply a high-quality, reliable power supply at a reasonable price. the project also provides tradable water rights
to landless households that are equivalent to those held
by land-holding members of the village, along with creating employment, improving agro and village industries,
and improving the livelihood of the people. although the
success of these types of projects depends on the various
stakeholders, the main objective and spirit can be replicated in rural areas.
Lessons Learned: microgrids can be suitable mechanisms for improving the livelihoods of individuals, and
new business models developed for microgrids can enable
the growth of enterprises even in rural and remote areas,
as shown in figure 4.
microgrids can also be designed
keeping in mind the type of consumer using the system. echelon and
valence energy's microgrid system for
an apartment complex, palm meadows in Hyderabad, india, is designed
to integrate distributed generation to
compensate for disruptions in utilitysupplied power. palm meadows is an
86-acre integrated gated community
with 335 homes and residential services. the palm meadows community gets its bulk power
supply from a dedicated grid substation from the utility. in

Centralized power
systems are capital
intensive and have
long gestation
periods.

(a)

(b)

Figure 4. The improvement in livelihood as seen in the Sundarban Islands. (a) Solar street lamps. (b) Women empowerment through batterybacked solar power. (Photos courtesy of Subhendu Ghosh/HT Photo.)

I E E E E l e c t r i f i c ati o n M agaz ine / MARCH 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2014