As homes across India flicker to life this Diwali, millions celebrate the light they already have. But in the forgotten folds of the country, that light is still being fought for — one solar panel, one wire, one dream at a time. In villages where the grid never arrived, lamps don’t just brighten rooms; they guard children walking home, power a farmer’s pump, and give women the freedom to work past sunset.

This is the story of those who turned the sun into survival — the engineers, students, and communities who refused to let darkness decide their lives.

1. Manipur: When a loom hums after dusk

In Manipur’s misty hills, evenings once ended livelihoods. Power looms fell silent, and children turned to the dull glow of kerosene lamps. That changed when Seth Moirangthem, a graduate who spent years working with non-profits, founded SNL Energy Solutions in 2019 to bring solar power to villages off the grid.

Seth’s solar systems now light 1,000 homes in Manipur’s hills, helping weavers, potters and students work past sunset.

A 40-watt panel that lights a three-room home costs around Rs 18,000; larger 1-kW systems keep power looms and sewing machines running through the night. “Solar energy is catalysing empowerment for women and helping children’s dreams flourish,” Seth says.

Potter Ibomcha in Kakching now earns Rs 350 a day on his solar-powered wheel. On Loktak Lake, floating huts glow till dawn, their reflections rippling across the water. Despite unrest and rough roads, Seth’s systems now power more than 1,000 homes across Manipur and the Northeast.

2. Rajasthan to the Northeast: The rise of solar sisters

In Nichlagarh, Rajasthan, Thavri Devi once lived in darkness and silence. A five-month solar engineering course in Harmada transformed her from homemaker to technician — and gave her voice and pride. She now earns Rs 5,700 a month repairing and installing solar systems.

Harsh’s initiative has trained 300 women across 10 states as solar engineers powering homes and confidence alike.

She is among 300 women across 10 states trained by EMPBindi International, led by Harsh Tiwari, to become “solar sisters” — local engineers who maintain decentralised energy systems. These women also identify livelihood needs and deploy dryers, cookstoves, torches, and microgrids.

Harsh remembers one young woman placing a chair at the centre of a men-only panchayat meeting and saying, “I am a solar engineer now, and I got this right.” The room, and the idea of who holds power, changed that day.

3. A student’s bulb that acts as an inverter

When Uday Bhatia, then in Class 12, visited Uttar Pradesh’s Bichpuri village, he saw students struggling through 10-hour power cuts. Back home, he turned his terrace into a lab, building 24 prototypes of an inverter bulb that glows for up to 10 hours during outages.

Uday’s Rs 250 solar bulb now lights 10,000 homes across 20 states, proving that innovation can start on a terrace.

He launched Uday Electric in 2022, pricing each bulb at Rs 250. It has since reached 10,000 homes across 20 states and earned him the Diana Award 2023. Vendors in rural markets sell the bulbs, creating new incomes along the way.

“Even with the power cut,” Uday says, “there will still be light.”

4. Jharkhand and Maharashtra: How communities run their own grids

When engineers Sameer Nair, Anshuman Lath, and Prasad Kulkarni travelled through Jharkhand in 2015, they saw villages that went dark every evening. They asked a simple question: What if the power belonged to the people?

Through their initiative ‘Gram Oorja’, they helped communities build and run solar microgrids, with villagers contributing funds, setting tariffs, and handling maintenance. “Every family pays Rs 100 a month,” says Suchita Ba of Simdega. “When we put our own money, we feel responsible.”

Sameer and his team have helped 150 villages run their own solar grids, powering farms and lives sustainably.

Today, over 150 villages manage their own clean energy. A survey found 102 of 104 microgrids still operational after eight years. The team has also installed 770 solar pumps, irrigating 4,000 acres of farmland.

For farmer Ambadas Bhoye, once forced to migrate for daily wages, this light brought stability. His fields now glow with okra, pumpkin, and beans — a harvest powered by community.

5. Karnataka: Power that comes with care

A dead fan in a classroom once stayed with Sohan Naik long after he left school. Years later, as head of Power Planet, the company his parents founded, he built a solar model rooted in reliability.

Sohan’s team powers 2,700 homes and 350 small businesses across Karnataka with reliable solar systems built to last.

“Solar must work on day one and still work on day 1,000,” he says.

His team installs and monitors rooftop systems across Karnataka, visiting quarterly and training locals to handle repairs. Over 2,700 homes and 350 small businesses now run on Power Planet systems. When clients upgrade, the firm refurbishes old panels and sells them to farmers at half price — spreading light and trust in equal measure.

6. Kerala: Making old inverters solar-smart

In Malappuram, Suresh Vijayakumar barely notices power cuts anymore. His home runs on iCUBE, a high-efficiency solar UPS from Energy24by7, founded by Harsh Mohan, Nishanth C P, Dr Vinod Gopal, Lakshmi Nambiar, and Kiran S.

Their first product, iCON, made old inverters solar-compatible; iCUBE refined it further, achieving 97 percent efficiency and automatic source-switching.

Harsh and his co-founders at Energy24by7 power 1,000-plus homes with solar UPS systems across India and Africa.

During a storm that blacked out his neighbourhood for five days, Suresh’s lights stayed on. His electricity bills have since halved, and he now advocates solar adoption to neighbours. 

Energy24by7 serves over 1,000 homes across southern India, with pilots in Africa — proof that good ideas can travel anywhere sunlight reaches. “The best innovation,” says Harsh, “is the one people can afford, understand, and use every day.”

7. Maharashtra: A portable sun for those on the move

For Katkari and Kunbi families in Mulshi, Pune, darkness once meant fear — of leopards, isolation, and lost hours of learning. Tanveer Inamdar, a mechanical engineer, launched Mission Urja in 2022 to change that through portable solar units that families can fold, carry, and use wherever they go.

Each three-kg system powers bulbs and fans; Urja Committees manage upkeep and collect small monthly fees. So far, 945 families have gained power across Maharashtra, with partners like Netcracker Technologies and Persistent Foundation supporting the mission.

“Imagine visiting a village once cloaked in darkness,” Tanveer says. “A few months later, it glows with light.”

Tanveer’s Mission Urja has lit 945 tribal homes in Maharashtra, bringing safety, study hours and hope after dark.

This Diwali, The Better India has joined hands with Tanveer’s Mission Urja to take that glow further — to light up 500 homes across seven Mulshi villages for just Rs 800 each. Every solar light comes with an 18-hour backup, bringing safety, study hours, and peace to families like Swapnali’s, who dreams of returning to school, and Balu Katkar’s, who hopes to no longer look over his shoulder for leopards.

If you’d like to be the reason a family in Mulshi sees its first light this Diwali, [click here to donate] — because in these villages, light isn’t luxury, it’s life.

The afterglow

Light changes posture. It lets a mother pull up a chair at the panchayat table, a child finish one more chapter, a farmer stay for a second crop, and a weaver complete her order. It carries comfort, courage, and the assurance that tomorrow will be brighter.

On this festival of lamps, these are the flames to remember — the ones that last, that travel from one roof to the next, carrying a simple promise: that no one should be left in the dark.