Solar Lighting in India

Solar Power in India has been growing at an explosive pace due to declining costs of Solar Energy and incentives given by the Government of India under JNNSM.While most of the subsidies for solar energy in India are going to large solar farms,Solar Lighting is also growing steadily without any support.This is due to the fact that Solar Lighting saves on electricity costs and is also environment friendly.Solar Lighting in India is gaining traction not only in the upper income segments but also at the bottom of the pyramid.Solar Lanterns and Lamps are replacing expensive,GHG emitting kerosene lamps in poor rural as well as urban India.Despite shoddy subsidies,solar lamps have become economic to compete with fossil fuel alternatives.Solar Lighting is also being heavily used for Street Illumination in places where the electricity grid is not present.Solar Lighting is also gaining acceptance in use  in gardens where they can capture sunlight in the morning and light the gardens in the night using the stored energy.

Types of Solar Lighting in India

1) Solar Lamps/Lanterns

Solar Lamps or Solar Lanterns have seen astounding growth in India driven mainly by the lack of access to electricity and the high costs of Kerosene or gas lamps.Note Solar Lamps have been so successful in India mainly due to their economic utility rather than their Green Characteristics.Note 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity which means that the productivity comes to a complete stop in the dark.Note Kerosene a dirty oil refined product is the main source of energy for millions of Indian citizens.Kerosene is a health hazard resulting in accidental fires and causing a lot of smoke which can lead to various respiratory diseases.The Kerosene is given in limited quantities and is not sufficient to Light the Darkness for a month or more.The advent of Solar LED Lamps has been a godsend solution to this problem.

2) Solar home lighting systems

Solar home lighting system consists of the Solar Panels, Mounting structure, battery, battery box, Solar charge-controller, luminaries, cables and switches. The Solar Lighting Fixtures have inbuilt DC to AC inverter converters.Solar Lighting Home Systems can also run TVs and Fans though running of Solar Air Conditioners is not possible because of high wattage requirements.

3) Solar Street Lighting

Solar Street Lighting System is a lighting system for the illumination of streets & squares and cross roads located in areas that are not connected to the power grid.The standalone solar street lighting system comprises of a Solar Panel ,Lead acid battery for Energy Storage, Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) as light source, suitable electronics and hard-ware like pole, battery box  for fixing of these sub system.The system is controlled by a controller with automatic ON/OFF time switch, which control the light from dusk till morning or other setting time.Note high end Solar Street Ligthing can consist of LED Lamps instead of CFLs.

4) Solar LED Lighting

The falling prices of LEDs has made it possible to couple these two green technologies together. Solar LED Lighting can be used anywhere as a replacement for normal Solar Lighting which used CFLs.

Solar Lighting Suppliers

Selco India SELCO Solar Pvt. Ltd, a social enterprise established in 1995.SELCO employsabout 170 employees in Karnataka and Gujarat spread across 25 energy service centers. Selco sells most Solar Products alongwith Financing Packages as well.

D.light Design – D.Light Design was started with the socially responsible goal of bringing light affordably to millions of poor.Its flagship product is S250 which is a dual purpose solar light and mobile charger. Its b It provides 10 times more light than a kerosene lantern.

It also charges the most popular mobile phones on the market. It keeps personal mobile phones fully charged even when AC power is unavailable or inconvenient.

Tata BP Solar – This Tata Company has one of the biggest and oldest solar panel manufacturing operations in the country.Tata BP Solar also manufactures a wide variety of Solar Product which includes different types of Solar Sodium,Solar CFL and Solar LED Lamps .Tata BP Solar is perhaps the best solar lighting provider in India given the brandname and inhouse manufacturing of solar components.It has a range of Solar Lighting Solutions based on LED and non LED lights.

1. Jugnu Solar Home Lighting  Compact home lighting solutions, primarily in rural areas where there is an absence of a grid or where grid power is unreliable.
2.  Venus Solar Home Lighting – Venus Solar Home and Space Lighting Systems are cost-effective, yet reliable lighting systems for home use in rural areas.
3. Solar i2 LED Lighting – Revolutionary home lighting solution based on LED technology that consumes 50% lesser energy and lasts longer.
4. Solar Street Lighting – Margadeep Solar Street Lighting Systems are standalone systems that provide reliable outdoor lighting for campuses, roads, villages, open spaces]
5. Solar iBEAM – LED Lighting- Solar powered LED street light for outdoor application.

Hiramut Energies  manufactures and exports Solar Energy Products,  under the brand name of “Sun-Ray”. and is  based in Gujarat.They sell Solar Cooker, Solar Home System, Solar Led Lantern, Solar Led Street Light, and Solar Water Heating System.

Neutech Solar Systems is mainly focused on solar water heaters but is also sells solar street lighting systems

Anu Solar started 1979 and has a manufacturing unit for Solar Water Heating Systems and Solar Photovoltaic Systems .They sell solar lighting systems for streets and residential purposes.

Deepa Solar Lighting Systems has been around for 10 years.The company also sells a wide variety of solar products like solar fans,solar street lights,solar lamps,solar garden lights etc.

Tilak International is a manufacturer of LED signals, solar charge controllers, solar lighting system, solar home lighting system, solar street lighting system .

Aditya Energy Systems established in the year 2000, is a  manufacturers of Solar Photovoltaic lighting systems. Aditya Energy Systems manufactures solar lighting systems of various capacities ranging from few watts to kilowatts catering to domestic and international customer requirements

Luminous Power Technologies Limited/Schneider Electric has LED (light emitting diode) based Solar Lighting Solution The energy efficient LED based design of this new product with a single light output is at par with 11 watts CFL. ging between 11 to 12 hrs.

Topsun Energy makes a host of products like Solar Refrigerators,solar pumps etc. is mainly known as Solar Telecom System Manufacturers and Led Solar Street Light Suppliers

Read more about Solar Cookers in India and buying Solar Panels in India.