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Asia / Commercial & demonstration

Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya DC Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts17
Sources reviewed8
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya's campus energy project near Dharwad, Karnataka was built with its $100,000 2014 Zayed Future Energy Prize award and SELCO India/SELCO Foundation support. The installed package included a 14 kW AC solar mini-grid for classrooms, hostels, office, hall, and kitchen; a separate 5 kW solar water-pumping system; solar hot water; biogas; LEDs; and daylighting improvements. The recovered title calls it a DC microgrid, but the school's own annual report says AC mini-grid and the detailed configuration has a one-phase AC output. Its 120 × 2 V × 300 Ah battery inventory equals 72 kWh nominal, not the recovered 17 kWh.

Research status
Installed in 2014-2015 and historically described as operational. KSV remains an active school with 230 students in 2023-2024 and still lists SELCO Foundation as a partner; a 2024 partner update says local electricity rationing continues to affect the school. No recent technical report confirms present battery health, solar output, outage coverage, or whether the original lead-acid bank has been replaced, so current microgrid availability is not independently verified.
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
15.41331, 74.88062
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya DC Microgrid?

5 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya (KSV)

School, project owner, beneficiary, and 2014 Zayed Future Energy Prize recipient. [4][7]

Organization

Kumar LaNoce Architects

Partner named by KSV for the broader campus sustainability project. [4]

Organization

SELCO

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

SELCO India / SELCO Foundation

Energy auditor, designer, installer, and implementation partner for the mini-grid, solar pump, and water-heating systems. [4][5][7]

Organization

Zayed Future Energy Prize (now Zayed Sustainability Prize)

Awarded KSV the 2014 Global High Schools Asia prize and $100,000 implementation grant. [5][4]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
14 [1]
Storage
17 kWh [1]
Campus solar mini-grid
14 kWp from 50 × 280 Wp panels in ten-series by five-parallel configuration [4][6]
Battery bank
120 × 2 V, 300 Ah batteries on two racks; 72 kWh nominal arithmetic capacity. The recovered 17 kWh value is inconsistent with the disclosed cell inventory. [6]
Electrical interface
Three-phase grid input and single-phase AC output distributed through a four-core underground cable to building clusters [6]
Separate solar pumping
5 kW solar system for the campus bore-well pump [4]
Thermal and efficiency measures
Five solar water-heating systems, a kitchen biogas system, campus-wide LED conversion, improved classroom daylighting, and LED classroom projectors [4]
Loads served
Classrooms, student hostels, main hall/Yogashala, office, kitchen, lights, fans, televisions, laptops, digital-education equipment, and washing machine [4][6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

PV array

Model not publicly disclosed

Fifty 280 Wp modules mounted on a custom module-mounting structure above the battery room; manufacturer and model are not disclosed. [6]

02

Battery and power conditioning

Model not publicly disclosed

A 120-cell 2 V/300 Ah bank and a power-conditioning unit serve the mini-grid. Battery chemistry, PCU manufacturer/model, and usable depth of discharge are not public. [6]

03

Distribution and monitoring

Model not publicly disclosed

Building clusters connect through distribution boxes with MCB protection. Each distribution point has an energy meter and consumption data is logged to a central server for load auditing and control. [6]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    The Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya DC Microgrid is a solar microgrid in India by SELCO foundation in Karnataka. [1]

  • Generation

    14 kWp Solar – (10 series x 5 parallel 280Wpk) [1]

  • AC/DC classification

    Despite the recovered record's 'DC microgrid' title, KSV's annual report explicitly calls the installation a 14 kW AC solar mini-grid, while the technical description specifies one-phase AC output. The DC battery/PV subsystem does not make the campus distribution network a DC microgrid. [4][6]

  • Whole-campus solution

    The electrical mini-grid was one part of a student-led sustainability package that also reduced load through efficient lighting and daylighting and displaced other energy uses through solar hot water, solar pumping, and biogas. [4][5]

  • Operational visibility

    Submetering was designed to expose excess consumption by building cluster and allow school staff to intervene. The reviewed sources do not provide logged generation/consumption data or measured savings from the planned before-and-after energy audits. [6][5]

  • Current evidence limitation

    KSV and its partner network remain active, but a 2024 funding story still cites electricity rationing at Kalkeri. That does not prove failure of the mini-grid—loads may have grown or storage may be aging—but it prevents claiming full energy independence without a current engineering report. [7][8]

Provenance

8 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-02-28

  2. [2]
    microgrid in India

    microgridprojects.com · Archived source · captured 2021-02-28

  3. [3]
    microgridprojects.com

    microgridprojects.com · Archived source · captured 2021-02-28

  4. [4]
    Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya Annual Report 2014-15

    Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Zayed Future Energy Prize Winner Partners With Finalist to Implement Winning Project

    Zayed Future Energy Prize / Business Wire · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya DC Microgrid

    Microgrid Projects · Secondary research

  7. [7]
    Who we are – Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya

    Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya · Primary source

  8. [8]

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