Let there be light, where the grid cannot go

On a balmy February morning, white clouds hung over Pherlin Ripnar’s farmland spread across two hectares of land in Patharkhmah village of Ri-Bhoi district in Meghalaya. Inside one of the polyhouses, Ripnar carefully looked at his mushroom cultivation—most of the mushrooms had emerged from the substrate. “These will be ready to be sold in the market in the next 2-3 days,” Ripnar says.

In Ripnar’s village, there are frequent power cuts, but he has been able to continue farming thanks to the solar panels installed on his farmland.

Ripnar learned the ropes of farming from his father when he was young. Growing up with 13 siblings, he had to contribute as an extra hand to support his parents. After finishing class 12 as an arts student, he opened a small paan shop in his village to earn a living. When he was around 28 years old, he met the founders of MOSONiE—a non-profit that works in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya—who encouraged and motivated Ripnar to adopt sustainable solutions for livelihoods.

With the help of MOSONiE and Selco Foundation—a large solar non-profit—Ripnar started a small solar-powered photocopy and printing business in the same place where he used to run his paan shop. “Electricity is a big problem in our village. We are sometimes without it for days,” the now 38-year-old Ripnar says. (MOSONiE and Selco Foundation have also been key to helping Pherlin and his peers access devices like solar panels and solar-powered rice hullers.)

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Ripnar’s interest has always been agriculture, so he continued to practice organic farming at home on his land. In 2023, he bought his current land from his cousin sister on lease, to begin working on a larger scale.

As Ripnar has been using solar technology for about a decade now, he knows how solar panels can help him and his farm compensate for days without electricity. Ripnar explains that the solar panels give the farm an uninterrupted electricity supply. He also does not have to use torchlights, mobile phones and candles at night to check on his farm. As the farm is isolated, Ripnar installed three street lights on the uphill pathway that leads to it in 2023. The solar panels ensure that these street lights also operate throughout the night. “Solar-powered lighting can better protect farms from wild animal attacks and thefts,” Ripnar notes.

It also means Ripnar and the caretaker in his room have more consistent electricity. This helps them have a good night's sleep after a hard day at work. “We feel comfortable,” he says.

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Solar innovations

The farmer has also been using solar dryers to dry vegetables, grains and fish. “We grow a lot of ginger and turmeric here to make pickles, or to sell in the market. I used the dryer mainly to dry ginger and turmeric,” he says. Solar dryers help preserve agricultural products for longer periods, reducing the risk of spoilage and waste post-harvest.

MOSONiE, run by a group of women from northeast India, has been linking farmers with banks and other lenders, such as non-banking financial companies, for financial assistance in purchasing solar panels and other solar-powered machines.

With the help of MOSONiE, Ripnar took a loan from the Meghalaya Rural Bank (MRB) in 2019, which he has now repaid, to install the solar panels in his farm. “I was also able to purchase solar batteries (which can help store sunlight during the day),” Ripnar adds.

On his farm, Ripnar grows local brown maize, paddy, and three varieties of pumpkins, yams, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and other vegetables. He said that with support from the Government of Meghalaya’s Horticulture Department, he is also growing orchids inside the polyhouses, which has been profitable.

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Solar-powered nooks

Solar is a fast-growing, useful and cost-effective option for addressing electricity challenges, especially in Meghalaya's remote, hilly and forested areas, where the electricity supply can be erratic. “Solar energy can help farmers in various ways by powering their farm equipment and appliances,” says Ringbila Pungding, one of the co-founders of MOSONiE. “We support farmers like Pherlin by identifying their needs and challenges, and tailoring solutions to meet their specific energy requirements,” Pungding adds.

Ioanis Kurbah from Nartap village in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya is another case. Kurbah has been using a solar-powered rice huller machine since 2022. These machines are capable of cleaning, husking, polishing, grading and managing rice and its by-products. “Earlier, I was involved in cultivating paddy, bamboo and broom grass. But now I have moved on to managing the rice huller machine in my village,” says Kurbah.

Every household in Nartap village is engaged in paddy farming, and most of the farmers were using the old machine, which ran on diesel, required more water and wasn’t eco-friendly, Kurbah noted. “It is also very costly, makes a lot of noise, produces dust, and affects the health of those who operate the machines. Besides, the machine could simply grind the paddy—it could not separate the husk from the rice. Farmers need to return home and remove the husk from the rice, which requires about 3 to 4 hours,” Kurbah explains.

Out of 92 households, about 85 families now get their rice processed through Kurbah’s solar-powered rice huller machine. “The farmers are absolutely happy, and I, too, can support my family now,” Kurbah says.

Kurbah adds that even to run his poultry farm, “We need constant electricity. Our area is extremely prone to frequent power cuts. During summer, electricity is gone for a week or so. Solar panels help us manage the poultry farm, which needs to be cleaned regularly, and chickens need to be fed food and medicines.” He said that his poultry farm now runs entirely with the help of two solar panels, which have been a lifesaver for him.

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Nagesh Rao, a senior programme manager at Selco Foundation, explains how many farmers post-harvest depend on selling the raw materials directly in the market. “Sometimes, if they don’t have the means to process the raw material, they give it at a throwaway price. With the solar-enabled rice huller machines, they can process the paddy and sell it at a higher margin. The machine helps them access energy at their doorstep without depending on other sources for electricity.”

According to Binit Das, programme manager, renewable energy unit at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, solar technology could help farmers from the effects of climate change in mountainous states like Meghalaya. “When it comes to electricity, people staying far away from cities and towns face many transmission and distribution challenges. In case of extreme weather events like landslides and heavy rainfall, the centralised available sources of power will get affected, which will then impact the day-to-day lives of farmers and their families,” Das says, adding that decentralised renewable energy (DRE) can be a game changer for communities who live in remote areas. “If DRE is made available for communities, then there will be less impact from extreme weather events.”

In Patharkhmah village, when asked what kind of facilities might help farmers in Meghalaya, Ripnar laments how there are no review meetings that farmers can have with the government’s agriculture and horticulture departments and banks regarding loans, schemes and subsidies. “If the government can conduct monthly review meetings with our farmers to share grievances, especially for those in remote areas of the state, it could benefit us.”

But, for now, Ripnar says he is just thankful that he and his farm have constant access to lighting.

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