AA group of children were playing on the path in front of the house, some were flying kites. Farmer Usha Baen took a broom and climbed the narrow wooden ladder to the roof. From above, the view passes by children’s kites over a village in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Houses stick out of the ground like building blocks.
But what caught the eye were the bluish solar cells that sat in the sun on all the neighboring roofs, and in rural areas. India still a rather unusual sight. Usha Baen also has three solar panels oriented diagonally towards the sun. The farmer’s wife took out a broom and started cleaning the sand that had accumulated on the surface of the solar cells. Then he wiped it with a brightly colored cloth. “When they are clean, they generate more electricity,” said the 40-year-old mother of six, who grows garlic, shallots and cilantro outside the village. “We used to pay 800 to 900 rupees per month for electricity, now nothing at all. We save money because we don’t have to spend money on electricity,” said the farmer’s wife.
