Aar-em Electronics lights up rural India

Pune, Mar 24 (ANI/Business Wire India): Aar-em Electronics Pvt. Ltd. a Pune based firm known for its champion brand of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) now has entered the field of providing uninterruptible light source for villages after sunset by providing them lights and other utilities powered by solar energy.

"Mohri" a village situated at 100 kms from Pune, having 27 houses and a population of 160 of which 75 are children today boasts of having electricity which has been provided by Aar-em Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Where once life practically came to a standstill at sundown are now abuzz with activities.

The solar-based devices have illuminated the villagers' houses like never before-kerosene lamps are a thing of the past now. Even, infotainment is beamed to them through solar-powered television sets.

After a tiring day at office, when the better part of urban population retires to the comfort in their brightly lit living rooms and waits for a sumptious dinner being cooked in the kitchen, a larger part of rural India - is immersed in darkness As dusk descends, it is time for the rural woman to fix a kerosene lamp and poke some firewood into a fuming chulha to cook dinner.

While the lamp barely lights up the place, both the lamp and the chulha fill up the house with hazardous smoke, putting at risk the health of the woman and also her children whom she tries to attend to while cooking.

India has over 140 million rural homes. Out of this some 87 million still burn kerosene for lighting, which is dirty and dangerous. Each family at an average consumes between 10-15 liters of kerosene per month, which in turn generates 2.6 kgs of Carbon Dioxide. This adds to pollution of the environment and accelerates global warming.

Combining the sun's energy with modern technology has now provided mankind with a solution that can electrify his home and ends in a better lifestyle. Aar-em tries all possible ways to increase the villager's useful hours after sunset by providing them lights powered by solar energy successfully installed and commissioned at Mohri village.

Aar-em is offering a system which typically contains a roof-installed solar PV module, storage battery, charge controller, interior wiring, and switches and fixtures with the capacity to power two- low-wattage high power LED modules.

This arrangement will help the really stretched village housewife to perform her daily chores better, which includes her cooking, stitching, and managing the children.

LED bulbs last 10 times more than as compact fluorescents (CFL), and 50-100 times longer than typical incandescent lamp or bulbs in normal everyday use situations, therefore energy is saved in maintenance and replacement costs. Since LEDs do not have a filament, they are not damaged under circumstances when a regular incandescent bulb or CFL would be broken. LED's do not cause any heat build-up, and are energy-saving as they use only a fraction of the wattage of incandescent bulbs. All this makes LEDs the best choice for use with alternative energy sources

A solar photovoltaic (PV) project can transform the lives of thousands of people living in poverty-stricken rural regions by providing several hours of uninterrupted lighting every night. Such programs have been successful in Algeria, China, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, and Mexico.

The largest barrier to the switch to solar in developing countries has been the lack of financing for clean energy in poor communities. Often, the world's poorest people can afford only highly polluting options such as kerosene.

Above all Aar-em has also provided a television to this rural community who are currently being deprived and cut of from the mainstream life and activities. They do not get access to weather, agriculture, livelihood, projects, education, health and hygiene information that is now being made available through several TV channels. Solar power is used to run the TV and Direct to home (DTH) Doordarshn service is used to receive the television channels. A few street lights are also installed making this village fully complete and electrified.

ANI