Rows of grey cement blocks look like gravestones in an abandoned cemetery. The dilapidated single-storeyed house, adjacent to a field, seems like a setting for a horror film. Less than a decade ago, the cement blocks here served as bases for solar panels, part of a 110 kilowatts (kW) solar plant, which was housed in the building. When commissioned in 2003, it was one of the largest off-grid power plants in the country.
In the absence of grid-connected power supply which reached only in 2018, many islands in India’s Sundarbans were powered by solar energy. Now, about two dozen solar assets, lie abandoned on these islands.Between 1996 and 2006, the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Authority (WBREDA) installed 17 solar power plants with a cumulative installed capacity of 872.5 kilowatts (kW) and more were added to the list thereafter. Many of these set ups lie…