Having reliable electricity is something many of us take for granted. But around the world, there are places that still struggle to generate enough, and what they do generate may not be reliable. In rural India, this is something students are all too familiar with.
According to Reuters, at a school hosting 1600+ students, in years past they used to have difficulty just consistently powering the school, especially in the summertime when the electrical grid becomes overburdened. That is until 2018 when the school had solar panels installed on its roof as a part of a program, the West Bengal’s Sunshine Schools project, designed to address the issue. The school used to spend an average of 5300 rupees per month on electricity alone. But, since their solar array is connected to the local electrical grid, the school can sell off any additional power it generates. Doing so has reduced the schools electricity bill to almost nothing.
Moreover, there is also a direct educational impact. “Our students now get to see and understand the real-time efficacy of solar power,” said Saktiram Das, the teacher in charge of overseeing the solar panels. “[Our students] learn from a young age the importance of clean energy and how it keeps our environment clean.”
And this isn’t a one-off occurrence. The project has big goals in mind, as they aim to reach even the most rural schools to help get the newest educational technology to all students. So far, 1,800 schools have benefited from Sunshine Schools, with hopes to reach a total of 25,000 schools with their own solar grids.