Solar-Powered Milk Chillers with Storage Come to the Rescue of Camel Herders in Rajasthan

Rajasthan Renewable Energy Policy: Solar Given Preference Over Wind

In Rajasthan, where camel husbandry has been a common practice for years, the income of the herders is drastically impacted owing to the lack of infrastructure at camel mile collection centers. Adding to the woes was the absence of electricity supply because of lack of grid. Milk spoilage was also a commonly occurring phenomenon. This is where the role of solar power has come in. SELCO Foundation, which offers decentralised sustainable energy, and Urmul, an organisation which works towards social and economic change in Rajasthan, have joined hands to empower the dairy entrepreneurs and camel herders to bring down the transaction costs and wastage of milk.

The pilot programme initiated by the two employs solar power for instant milk chillers to facilitate the camel value chain in Bikaner, Rajasthan. This has been said to be building a case for sustainable energy powered solutions for camel value chain across not just India, but the Sub Saharan Africa as well. The decentralised chilling units at small scale have proven to be a boom for the camel ecosystem by helping bring down the transportation of milk for longer routes. Previously, cooling was a challenge and making it to difficult to preserve the quality of milk in long travels.

In remote village of Rajasthan, where one cannot rely on the grid for electricity supply, the solar-powered chiller system with thermal storage is helping stem this challenge. Energy is stored when electricity is available. At the same time, these chillers, which boast of chilling 250 litres of milk instantly in an hour, has removed the dependence on the requirement for diesel generator, or even the grid for electricity. The operating costs have seen a major slide because of these factors. In turn, the income and interest rates of camel herders, farmers and entrepreneurs has seen a push, enabling them to continue the practice of camel husbandry without any worries. In some cases, the income has quadrupled for the pastoralists too.  So far, more than 600 farmers are benefitting from the initiative.

Another cold chain firm by the name of Inficold, has begun to offer customised cleaning solutions to clean solar panels, especially in difficult weather conditions that these remote areas of Rajasthan are prone to. It is training young personnel towards this too.

The chillers, priced at Rs 900,000 can store anywhere between 500-1,500 litres of milk (smaller units) each and cost 900,000 rupees. The bigger units cost Rs 1.4 million.