Solar Power, Still the Cheapest Source of Light for India’s Poorest, Even at Night

India’s power grid is solid, yet sadly still very unequally distributed. In regions such as Uttar Pradesh, for many, being connected to the grid remains wishful thinking. For years, the poorest have struggled with analog means of energy at night, generally relying on relatively expensive, poorly efficient and highly polluting kerosene-based heating and lighting. But now things are starting to change as a revolutionary new start-up is making its way through India, and starting with the country’s poorest.

Created by US-born entrepreneurs Nikhil Jaisanghani and Brian Shaad, Mera Gao Power provides extremely cheap lighting and mobile phone charging services to individual houses by installing solar-powered micro-grids in villages. By subscribing to the service for the initial cost of 40 rupees, each household receives two LED lights and a mobile-charging outlet. The service provides efficient energy per household for 25 rupees per week, a price that the vast majority of the poorest can afford. For most, it’s actually very much worth the investment, as it allows individuals to continue working after dark and largely makes up for the cost of the service.

The start-up has got off to a flying start, allowing parents to cook and work after dark and children to keep on studying. Hopefully, the product should soon translate into a measurable increase in standards of living in the rural communities of Uttar Pradesh. Not to mention that for once a product provides cheaper solution that is actually more ecologically sustainable than what it replaces. Mera Gao Power’s idea is changing lives and the environment, one village at a time. The founders have set a goal of reaching 100,000 households by 2016. We do hope they will.