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Sundarbans Village Microgrids

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts20
Sources reviewed9
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The legacy 120 kW 'Sunderbans' record combines at least two independent West Bengal projects and should not be treated as one Tata Power Solar plant. One was WBREDA's 110 kWp Indrapur/G-Plot mini-grid, implemented by Tata BP Solar and commissioned in 2004. The other was WWF-India/Bushlight's approximately 9.65 kWp Rajatjubili-Annpur system on Satjelia, commissioned around 2011 with a 10 kW hybrid power conditioner and demand-managed distribution. Later WWF work added several separate microgrids elsewhere on Satjelia and Kumirmari. These capacities, operators, communities, and operating histories must remain distinct.

Research status
The Indrapur 110 kWp system had serious battery problems by 2015 and was reported defunct by 2022 after mainland-grid electricity reached the village in 2018. Rajatjubili had a more resilient community-management design, and one of two systems examined in 2022 was still operating while the other had failed after grid arrival; the reporting does not support assigning that outcome confidently to every legacy asset. WWF's broader Satjelia portfolio was restored quickly after Cyclone Amphan in 2020, but no post-2022 plant-by-plant operating report was found. WBSEDCL reports continuing mainland-grid electrification in Gosaba and Patharpratima through March 2026. The grouped record is therefore historical/mixed status, not a currently verified 120 kW operating microgrid.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
120 kW
Coordinates
21.79208, 88.35550
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 Sundarbans Village Microgrids?

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

Organization

CAT Projects / Bushlight India

Provided participatory load assessment, technical design, demand management, commissioning, and training for the Rajatjubili project. [4]

Organization

Optimal Power Synergy India Pvt. Ltd.

Supplied the 10 kW hybrid power conditioner and programmable control used at Rajatjubili. [4]

Organization

Tata BP Solar India Ltd. / Tata Power Solar

Designed and implemented the 110 kWp Indrapur/G-Plot system. No evidence found ties Tata to the separate Rajatjubili Bushlight installation. [3][7]

Organization

Tata Power Solar

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

Organization

Village Energy Committees

Community governance and fee-collection bodies for WWF-supported systems; reporting links sustained operation to local participation and management rather than equipment alone. [5][7]

Organization

West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA)

State renewable-energy agency and sponsor/owner-side organization for the Indrapur/G-Plot 110 kWp solar plant, officially listed as installed in April 2004. [2][3]

Organization

West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL)

Mainland-grid distribution utility whose electrification program now serves Gosaba and Patharpratima areas, materially changing the role and economics of the earlier standalone systems. [8][7]

Organization

WWF-India

Implemented the Rajatjubili/Satjelia community microgrid and subsequently developed a wider portfolio of AC and DC village grids, street lights, and Village Energy Committees. [4][5][6]

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
120 [1]
Indrapur/G-Plot photovoltaic array
110 kWp. WBREDA lists installation in April 2004; later reporting sometimes gives 2003, an unresolved one-year commissioning-date discrepancy. [2][7]
Indrapur power conversion
Three 30 kVA inverters (90 kVA aggregate). The accessible field study does not provide dependable manufacturer or model information. [3]
Indrapur battery
A 240 V, 800 Ah tubular lead-acid bank, equivalent to approximately 192 kWh nominal by voltage-times-capacity. It was designed around two days of storage including one day of autonomy, but usable energy and depth of discharge were not stated. [3]
Indrapur customers and distribution
About 2 km of local lines serving roughly 120 households and 180 market shops. Early operation delivered an average of about 27 kW for five evening hours; after Cyclone Aila in 2009, service was reduced to about three hours. [3]
Rajatjubili photovoltaic array
9.65 kWp, often rounded to 10 kW. This is a distinct project and should not be arithmetically combined with Indrapur as though both formed a single 120 kW plant. [4]
Rajatjubili storage and controller
Sixty 2 V flooded-cell batteries, model/type 1200H at C120, controlled through a 10 kW Hybrid Power Conditioner. The case study does not expose enough series/parallel detail to state a reliable nominal kWh total. [4]
Rajatjubili service
Designed for a maximum of about 23 kWh/day and 230 V AC service to 48 houses, seven commercial users, three community buildings, four street lights, and four separately monitored outgoing distribution lines. [4]
Later WWF portfolio
WWF's 2019-20 report gives 84.12 kW combined across six DC grids, one AC grid, and 80 solar street lights on Satjelia and Kumirmari, serving about 700 households/3,000 people. This is a portfolio total, not the rating of Rajatjubili alone. [5]

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

Indrapur solar-battery system

Tata BP Solar India Ltd.

Custom 110 kWp PV plant with three 30 kVA inverters and a 240 V/800 Ah tubular lead-acid battery bank. Public field reporting does not identify exact module, inverter, or battery models. [3]

02

Rajatjubili hybrid power conditioner

Optimal Power Synergy India Pvt. Ltd.

10 kW power-conditioning and PLC-based control package coordinating the PV array, battery, feeder monitoring, and staged load shedding. [4]

03

Rajatjubili batteries

1200H C120

Sixty 2 V flooded lead-acid cells. The accessible case study names the type/rating but not a manufacturer. [4]

04

Rajatjubili customer metering

Urja Bandhu

Programmable household energy-budget and demand-management devices used with a participatory energy-planning process; precise manufacturer attribution is not stated in the case study. [4]

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

    Tata Power Solar has solar microgrid projects in Patharpratima, Indrapur (110 kW); and Rajatjubili Village, Gosaba (10 kW). [1]

  • Record identity

    The archived page's 120 kW total appears to add 110 kWp at Indrapur to a rounded 10 kW at Rajatjubili, despite different islands/communities, sponsors, equipment, and commissioning dates. The two projects should be represented as related regional cases, not a single system. [9][3][4]

  • Indrapur failure path

    At the February-March 2015 field visit, PV modules were still producing but battery problems had left the system non-operational. Reporting in 2022 described the plant as defunct after grid electricity arrived in 2018. [3][7]

  • Rajatjubili control strategy

    The system allocated daily energy budgets, monitored four feeders, and shed lower-priority circuits in stages as battery state required. The architecture aimed to provide managed 24/7 availability without allowing a few users to exhaust the shared battery. [4]

  • Climate resilience

    After Cyclone Amphan in May 2020, WWF reported its six approximately 10 kW Satjelia microgrids restored within days while conventional service remained damaged. This is portfolio-level resilience evidence, not proof that every earlier Sundarbans asset survived. [6]

  • Grid-arrival transition

    Mainland-grid expansion changed customer willingness to pay and maintenance incentives. The 2022 investigation found one community-managed solar system still useful and another abandoned, while WBSEDCL's current program confirms extensive rural-grid energization across the relevant blocks. [7][8]

  • Current-data gap

    No public 2025/26 battery inventory, energy delivered, tariff collection, outage log, or site-by-site status for Indrapur, Rajatjubili, and the later WWF portfolio was located. A single 'operational' flag would overstate the evidence. [8][7]

Provenance

9 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 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Solar Energy Programme

    West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency · Primary source

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
    Case Study 7: Rajatjubili Community Solar Power System

    CAT Projects / Bushlight India · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Annual Report 2019-20

    WWF-India · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Solar power lights up Sundarbans island

    Down To Earth · Secondary research

  7. [7]
  8. [8]
    Rural Electrification

    West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited · Primary source

  9. [9]
    Sunderbans - archived legacy record

    Microgrid Projects via Internet Archive · Archived source

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