Solar power provider SunEdison is using the power of the sun to bring power to rural villages in India that have never before had electricity. Titled “Eradication of Darkness”, the program will see distributed-generation solar power plants installed throughout the country, providing electricity for thousands of rural-dwelling Indians.

The first 14-KW solar plant was recently installed in Meerwada, a remote village that is home to 400 residents living in 70 homes. Homeowners pay approximately $1.00 per month for the electricity, about the equivalent to what they were paying for dangerous and toxic kerosene. The rest of the Eradication of Darkness program will be implemented in stages throughout the Guna District in central India, with a population of over 1,240,000 residents.

“This program is making electricity accessible to citizens in India who have never dreamt of having it in their homes or workplaces,” said Ahmad Chatila, President and CEO of MEMC. “We have the opportunity to improve standards of living by enabling sustainable changes in the lifestyles, health, education and community affairs of thousands of people.” MEMC is a solar manufacturer and parent company of SunEdison.

In 2009, the United Nations Development Programme released information on worldwide access to energy sources, noting that about 1.5 billion people do not have access to electricity at all and those that have gained access as of late have had to move to it; it didn’t come to them. With the assistance of government grants and private investors, SunEdison wants to bring electricity to some of the estimated 400,000 people in India who currently live without it.

A recent report released by the NRDC and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEQ) shows that the Indian solar industry is expanding, with generating capacity reaching nearly 507 MW by the end of March 2012. We recently reported on scientists in India developing a solar supercapacitor, a solar panel that stores its energy for later use, and news that India will be a major source of growth for the industry during the rest of 2012. The country has adopted a National Solar Mission (PDF) to establish the nation as a leader in solar energy, with a goal of generating 20GW of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022.

Image Credit: SunEdison