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Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

No TV. No internet. No AC. In fact, no LIGHT. Can you imagine a world without electricity? Not for a minute, an hour– but for 25 years. We bring a change today.

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Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

Solar Soldiers: Rescue Mission

No TV. No internet. No AC. In fact, no LIGHT. Can you imagine a world without electricity? Not for a minute, an hour– but for 25 years. We bring a change today.

No TV. No internet. No AC. In fact, no LIGHT. Can you imagine a world without electricity? Not for a minute, an hour– but for 25 years. We bring a change today.

No TV. No internet. No AC. In fact, no LIGHT. Can you imagine a world without electricity? Not for a minute, an hour– but for 25 years. We bring a change today.

No TV. No internet. No AC. In fact, no LIGHT. Can you imagine a world without electricity? Not for a minute, an hour– but for 25 years. We bring a change today.

Aakriti Gupta
Aakriti Gupta
Aakriti Gupta
Aakriti Gupta
1 Campaign |
Delhi, India
$3,714 USD 58 backers
30% of $12,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

As featured on:

Bridge To India Sustainuance  

 

The Solar Army is recruiting.

Our Solar Army will change lives. Drop by drop, step by step, just like each soldier - from the privates to the general - helps win a battle, we will change the face of rural India.

This village in India has been living in the dark, for 25 years. A generation, remote and forgotten, has lived without access to electricity. We plan to change that. We’re bringing POWER to them. To empower a change. To bring them back from the past. And we need your support.

Villagers of Gulabganj

 

Mission Gulabganj

Gulabganj is a remote village in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. The state has a huge number of rural households, and is one of the least electrified states in India, with less than 25% households having access to electricity. 

 

Gulabganj, in Uttar Pradesh, North India

 

Gulabganj has had no access to electricity for 25 years. With promises made and broken, the villagers have lost all hope. 

This is until the Solar Army arrived with its incredible Solar technology. 

Our Solar Army is going to rescue pockets of forgotten villages with each mission. And our NEXT MISSION is in Gulabganj. 

Who Are WE?

Solar Soldiers consists of an army of individuals like YOU, who yearn to change the world for the better. 

Contribute to the Solar Army:

- The Soldiers' contributions will be used to build a Solar mini-grid in the villages
- A mini-grid will be self-sustaining and will meet local power needs of households, schools, government center and farms
- You choose your contribution from a list of options
- You earn a rank on the basis of the impact you deliver
- With each rank, you get rewarded with exciting perks!
- Additionally, we will give some very cool rewards to the BEST soldiers, irrespective of rank!

Powered by Sunkalp Energy, the Solar Soldiers will deploy solar technology to bring solutions to the rural POWERLESS. With this mission, we are building a solar mini-grid to power the lives of around 200 villagers without access to electricity.

Let's march, Soldiers!

 

Phased Execution:

Timeline

What Villagers Say

Life without Electricity

peoplespeak

Villagers' Agreement

The Solar Soldiers have already been given a go-ahead by the villagers, who have signed their consent to the installation of the solar grid.

Village Agreement

 

The Impact

Rural Electrification

What's the impact, you ask? Well, there are more impacts than you can imagine.

  • Fertility rate reduction: Electrification has proved to reduce fertility rates and improve women health across all developing nations. Here's a look at the Indian states with respect to electrification. Uttar Pradesh has one of the lowest electrification at 25% electrified households. It also has one of the highest fertility rates in the country.

 Impact

 

  • Education: School dropouts are reduced as children get more hours of study and have been observed to perform better in electrified households.
    Locked classrooms on a school day, due to low attendance
Enrolment is low due to lack of electrification
  • Eradication of Poverty: There has been a significant increase in people’s earnings after electrification in most developing countries, with an India-focused study quoting increase in household per capita income by nearly 38.6 percent over time. It also measured a decrease in the poverty rate by 13.3 percent.
  • Women Empowerment: There is statistical evidence that the introduction of television in rural households has positive outcomes for women empowerment - with reduction in fertility, increase in autonomy, changing attitudes towards domestic violence and decrease in preference for a male child
  • Time Savings: There is reduction of time spent on fuelwood collection, encouraging pursuit of other activities.
  • Reduction of crime rate due to better lighting and accessibility

Economic Impact

  • Monetary Savings: Substituting electric lighting for kerosene lamps has a quantifiable health benefit of $2.50 per household, adding up lost work days and mortality due to respiratory sickness, according to a World Bank report.

  • Increasing productivity: Villagers can work till late evenings due to availability of light. It can lead to an estimated increase of employment hours by 17% for men
  • New Sources of Livelihood
  • Promotion of Rural Entrepreneurship

 

Post-Campaign

  • We will be introducing higher load capacities to run Chakki (for grinding wheat in mills) and Pumps (for irrigation purposes).
  • Also, with capacity expansion, we will provide television connections to households.

  • We roll out introduction of appliances for cold storage (for vaccines and medicinal purposes) and water purification, etc.
  • Roll out mini grid in other villages

Other Ways You Can Help

Even if you can’t contribute, it doesn’t mean you can’t help:

Yes, that’s all there is to it. Contact us with queries at @SolarSoldiers.

Team for this campaign:

Kanika Khanna:

  • Founder, Sunkalp Energy
  • Previous Experience at Cummins Inc.
  • MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • BE, Delhi College of Engineering

Ravi Kiran:

  • MBA: Great Lakes Institute of Energy Management
  • BE, Vellore Institute of Technology University

Aakriti Gupta:

  • Previous Experience at McKinsey & Company
  • MBA Candidate, IIM Calcutta

Thanikachalam MC

  • Previous Experience at Exide Batteries
  • B.Tech, Central Electrochemical Research Institute

Shalabh Srivastava

  • MBA, Great Lakes Institute of Technology
  • B.Tech, MPCT
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Choose your Perk

Future Soldier

$1 USD
No contribution is too small. Your desire to be a soldier is so strong that it overwhelms us! As a thank you for your heartfelt gesture, you'll get updates from our battlefield, and we are sure you'll join us with a bigger rank next year! :)
Estimated Shipping
September 2013
3 out of 10000 of claimed

Induction into the Solar Army!

$10 USD
Congratulations! You have made it to the Army! Cadet, now you get to brag about your knowledge of the inner workings of the Solar Army and technology with your very own "Solar Army Induction Kit". Learn about the army's missions, the enemy terrain and our state-of-the-art weapons against fossils! Also stay updated on the army's activities with quarterly updates in your email.
Estimated Shipping
September 2013
15 out of 1000 of claimed

Postcards from the Solar Army

$25 USD
Alright, you didn't get a rank on the Army, but you can still track all our moves! Get 2 stamped postcards from India, sent from the Solar Army's current rescue mission. We send you a postcard of your choice from the village - choose from our Solar Army artwork or village photos taken by our very talented photographer.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
3 out of 100 of claimed

Bookmark your day in the Sun!

$25 USD
You get a set of 5 special bookmarks created for our Solar Army, showcasing each army rank - Lieutenant, Captain, Colonel, Major General & General. Save your reading & remember the Solar Army's wars and rescue missions, as a memory of your well-spent money for life, in that tattered copy of Harry Potter.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 100 of claimed

Lieutenant Solar

$50 USD
You really are a cool soldier and have earned yourself the rank of Lieutenant! Get a very cool Lieutenant Solar Tshirt (with Solar Color Changing capabilities) and brag to your friends about your rescue mission in India! You also get our Cool Bookmarks/Postcards + Solar Army Induction Kit + Quarterly Updates from us!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
4 out of 70 of claimed

Captain Solar

$75 USD
You are Captain Solar! Just like Captain Kirk, you have pledged to change the world. You just helped power 1 CFL bright enough for nighttime study for 1,818 hours. You rock, Captain! Get a super cool Captain Solar Tshirt (with Solar Color Changing capabilities) + Exclusive Solar Army Set of Postcards/Bookmarkers + Solar Army Induction Kit + Quarterly Updates
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
1 out of 50 of claimed

Major Solar

$100 USD
You have helped power 1 table fan for 1,600 hours. You're a MAJOR source of happiness to us all! We're so glad to have your support for our mission. You get a limited edition Major Solar Tshirt from us, and we hope you wear it and brag to your friends, Major! You are a big part of the army, chin up!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
9 out of 35 of claimed

Colonel Solar

$150 USD
You have helped power 1 ceiling fan for 1,654 hours. You deserve a salute, Colonel! Plus, as a Thanks from us, you get a super cool Colonel Solar Tshirt (with Solar Color Changing capabilities) + EXCLUSIVE Solar Army Set of Postcards + Solar Army Induction Kit + Quarterly Updates
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
1 out of 25 of claimed

Major General Solar

$250 USD
You have helped power the whole village's mobile charging for 2,000 hours. Get a uber cool Major General Solar Tshirt (with Solar Color Changing capabilities) + EXCLUSIVE Solar Army Set of Postcards + Solar Army Induction Kit + Quarterly Updates
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 10 of claimed

General Solar

$500 USD
You are one GENERous soul, General! Your contribution will power one household for 6,000 hours. You are the coolest, and you deserve the best! We will give you the ultra cool General Solar Tshirt (with Solar Color Changing capabilities) + EXCLUSIVE Solar Army Set of Postcards AND Bookmarkers + Solar Army Induction Kit + Quarterly Updates
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 6 of claimed

You are the Solar Superhero!

$2,400 USD
YOU are our Solar-Man (or Solar-Woman?). What Batman is to Gotham City, you are to our village! And no! We won't allow our Solar-Man (Or Solar-Woman, no bias!) to live under a secret identity. In fact, we're so proud of you that ALL our Solar Army merchandise will be issued under YOUR honorary stamp. How awesome is that? Also, you get all the other exclusive gifts, plus a SPECIAL and only-for-you Solar-Man T-shirt designed by our director herself! Grab this perk before it goes, soldier!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 1 of claimed

Head of Engineering Corps

$2,400 USD
You will get a complete bankable DPR at the end of the project with complete details starting from site survey to project commissioning!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 2 of claimed

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