Enlarge

The states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in India’s south-east have a high annual global irradiation of around 2,000 kWh/m². Due to insufficient grid coverage and the fact that power failures are a frequent occurrence, they areattractive markets, especially for photovoltaic systems including back-up facilities. More than 700 villages also depend on treatment plants to produce drinking water since the fluoride contents in their drinking water are too high, leading to impaired growth, deformities and constant pains.

Uninterruptible electricity supply and clean drinking water

Intech GmbH & Co. KG and the Mother Teresa Rural Development Society (MTRDS), the local partner organisation, have built a photovoltaic system including an uninterruptible power supply in Narketpally in the Nalgonda district. The system powers a drinking water treatment plant based on a reverse osmosis system as well as the MTRDS centre and educational building. Clean drinking water is now available and young people can complete their computer and sewing training without interruption.

Women work for sustainable development

In order to guarantee operation of the total of three new water treatment systems, women from the region were given intensive training from Intech GmbH and MTRDS. Easy-to-understand videos and manuals in the official language Telugu make the technology easier to understand.

Confident women have combined to form groups, sell the water, invest in new systems and create a new livelihood for themselves. The opening and inauguration ceremony, which was attended by numerous local politicians and media representatives as well as interested women’s groups, took place on 29 November 2013.

About the German project partner

Intech is a turnkey operator in the field of solar electricity supply that plans, builds and sometimes operates systems between 3 kW and several MW. The systems are either grid-connected or operated as hybrid (diesel generator or wind turbine) or stand-alone systems. Intech has developed innovations in the areas of solar tracking systems (Intech Tracker system), solar drinking water treatment and solar evaporative cooling. At present, Intech is active on three continents. The staff communicate in German, French and English.

System Data