Sunday Times 2
Nochchiya solar village gets water and revenue
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Solar roofs: Work in progress to install solar panels in the dry zone village of Nochchiya
The first stage of a large solar village project at Nochchiya village-cluster in the Kurunegala district has been completed, with the installation of two solar power systems funded by UK-registered charities – The Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK (APSL) and Hela Sarana.
The Hela-Sarana-funded system was dedicated in memory of Raja Meehitiya, founder President of Hela Sarana who passed away in June 2015.
Nochchiya will be the second large village cluster to benefit from the solar village concept in Sri Lanka, the first being Kaduruwewa in the Kurunegala district, where the concept was launched in 2008.
The solar village project concept was designed and developed by Prof. I.M. Dharmadasa, in the late 1990s to empower rural communities using clean energy technologies for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Poverty reduction programmes in any community should have two main features; wealth creation methods and follow-up methods for job creation within the community.
Community spirit: Nochchiya villagers hold a meeting to mark the completion of the first phase of the project
Two solar roofs of 3 KW each were installed in the village with the funding provided by the two charities. The cost of each system was Rs. 830,000 (£4.500). The power produced from 6 KW solar roofs will be fed into the national grid, and the income generated will be used to cover the cost of two water pumping stations that would be operated using grid electricity. The revenue will be managed in a fully transparent way by the Village Development Committee with guidance from project initiators. The project team will monitor the performance of the two solar roofs.
The water pumped and purified is mainly used for drinking by more than 1200 people in this village thereby preventing any kidney or water related diseases. The purified water is also available to seven surrounding villages. They can buy it at a nominal price. The project team within the APSL-UK is guiding the community to achieve rapid economic development applying the solar village concepts.
The project also fulfils 13 of the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations, and is also highly relevant to Sri Lanka as it supports the Government’s recently launched “Soorya Bala Sangramaya” (Battle for Solar Energy) programme.