As India’s electrical grid strains, rural hospitals and clinics find reliable power in rooftop solar

In the searing heat that often envelops Raichur, an ancient town in southern India, a ceiling fan that spins without interruption brings sweet relief for the newborn babies and their mothers at the Government Maternity Hospital.

But such respite wasn’t always guaranteed in a region where frequent power cuts to India’s overmatched electrical grid can last hours. It wasn’t until the hospital installed rooftop solar panels a year ago that it could depend on constant electricity that keeps the lights on, patients and staff comfortable and vaccines and medicines safely refrigerated.

The diesel generator that used to provide emergency backup – spewing planet-warming gases and toxic smoke within breathing distance of newborns every time it was running – is gone.