Gujarat's Modhera village basks in the sun, awaits solar power benefits

Residents of India's first solar-powered village hope for reduced bills, iconic Sun Temple gets light show boost

On a moonlit night, Modhera village in Mehsana district of Gujarat shone like a lodestar — as if to highlight its glittering feat achieved days earlier.
 

Home to the iconic Sun Temple, Modhera was declared India’s first solar-powered village by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the poll-bound state on Saturday.
 

Armed with an array of solar panels spread across 30 acres in the nearby Sujaanpura village, Modhera is now the recipient of its 6 Mw installed capacity. Not surprisingly, the village with a population of 8,500 people uses only 1 Mw or roughly 5,000-5,500 units. The rest of the capacity is added to the transmission grid.
 

The entire village has access to the solar photovoltaic plant at Sujaanpura. Modhera has rooftop solar panels galore — on houses, government schools, utility buildings, or even the premises of the nearly millennium-old Sun Temple.

An Archaeological Survey of India protected site that also boasts a Unesco world heritage label, the Sun Temple was earlier open only till 6pm or sundown.
 

Modhera has 1,600-1,700 electrified houses, and nearly 1,400 solar power connections. Commissioned on August 26, 2021, the solar power project has enhanced the temple’s tourism potential post-sunset as well.
 

“After being powered by the solar project, now a 3D light show lets in visitors till 10 pm, enhancing footfall,” said a temple official, adding that the parking area also has five electric vehicle charging points.
 

But not everything is bright and sunny for Modhera. A year after the project was commissioned, only a few residents have been able to reap benefits by generating more solar power than its consumption. For instance, among roughly 60 houses in the Mahadevnagar locality near the Sun Temple, only two have installed new meters which are linked to the solar setup. The old meters are connected to the transmission grid.
 

For Jaydipsinh Solanki, a 40-year-old farmer, and Yuvraj Solanki, a 35-year-old restaurant owner, their monthly bills have hardly changed despite both receiving free 1 kilowatt (Kw) rooftop solar panels — worth almost Rs 1.5 lakh — from the government.
 

“My monthly power bill before the solar panel was installed used to be Rs 400, and it still remains the same. We have made representations to the gram panchayat office as well as those who come for installation and repair, but we are yet to see the benefit of generating more power than we consume,” says Jaydipsinh Solanki, who is unable to hide his envy for his neighbour, Hemuji Solanki.
 

This is because the latter, a 66-year-old farmer, has enjoyed a contrasting fortune after his meters were merged in February.
 

Before setting up rooftop solar panels in two houses, Solanki and his sons used to draw a monthly bill of around Rs 1,000 until January. Since then, the bills have got converted to monthly arrears of Rs 1,300 that the discom owes them for the additional solar power generated and added to the grid for one house. On the other residential property, which has two television sets, two fridges, one air-conditioner and a water pump, the monthly bill has halved from Rs 1,500 to Rs 700.
 

The Modhera Gram Panchayat estimates that less than one-third of the rooftop solar beneficiaries has been able to merge meters to allow new billing ever since the project was commissioned.
 

When asked, Jatanben Thakor, the Modhera village sarpanch who wore a ghoonghat (headscarf), asked her brother-in-law to explain how the residents have requested the state discom, Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL), to revise the billing based on new meters for all the beneficiaries.
 

“Meters are yet to be merged for a majority of the 1,300-odd units. But wherever UGVCL meters have shifted to the solar power grid, beneficiaries have arrears getting accrued for the discom. So far, none have been able to monetise the arrears but these may be adjusted against consumption units in future,” her relative said.
 

According to sources in UGVCL, while meters are being merged on priority, the process is time-consuming with only a handful being done in each quarter. “As for the monetisation, it will happen at the end of the financial year,” said a source.

Sunny days

• 1,600-1,700 houses electrified in Modhera
• Nearly 1,400 houses now solar-powered
• Less than one-third have had their meters renewed
• Power bills have either reduced by 50% or yielded arrears for the discom
• The 6-Mw solar PV project is spread across 30 acres
• Modhera uses only 1 Mw, with the rest being added to the grid
• Solar-powered Sun Temple now opens till 10 pm with 3D light show
• 5 EV charging points also part of temple’s parking premises