Farming the Sun: Towards Decentralized Applications involving Rural Users

With cost of renewables reducing day by day, opportunities for transformation of livelihood arise with wide spread adoption of RE applications. The rural communities, who are largely dependent on production of crops, shall begin to farm the Sun with solar devices.

This is a significant step as India aims to generate 500 GW of renewable energy by the year 2030 and almost 40% of this is aimed to be from Solar, a pathway aimed towards net-zero. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan or the PM KUSUM is a big step in that direction. It aims to raise more than 25000 MW of renewable energy with the help of farmers- big and small- with the use of fallow lands, replacing diesel pumps with solar ones and solarising the ones already connected to the grid. This three-pronged strategy plans to not just add more solar power to the energy mix but also augment farm incomes.

Such transformation of farmers becoming prosumers of power involves multiple factors. This video demonstrates the various factors to be considered in identification of suitable locations and describes the tools developed by TERI for Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) and M.P. Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVNL), with the support from MacArthur Foundation.