In a remote village in Rajasthan, nestled in the unforgiving heat of the desert, a community called Raika is not just surviving but thriving with a newly discovered source of income.

The community is using the desert sun to power instant milk chillers that preserve camel milk. The herders and farmers have increased their income by selling camel milk fourfold.

In the past, blistering heat and long hours of sun posed a challenge for the farmers. With no chilling facilities available, the farmers had no avenue of preserving the milk.

The sun’s intense heat was once a problem but is now a solution. The community has turned to solar energy to power the instant milk chillers, a solution made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Selco Foundation, Desert Resource Center, and NGO Urmul Seemant Samiti.

“Earlier, my family’s survival was dwindling due to lack of income avenues. But with the installation of the chillers, I am earning ₹3,800 (~$45.29) every day,” says Gainaram (50), a farmer from Grandhi, Bikaner.

Akshatha J of SELCO Foundation said, “There was no way we could connect the chillers with the grid. So, we decided to use the abundant solar energy in Rajasthan to power the chillers. The chillers cool the milk down to 7 degrees in about six minutes. The milk is then transferred to a processing unit in Bikaner.”

Harnessing the Sun

For many years, farmer Sree Ram Raika lived on an income as low as ₹10,000 (~$119.12) per month until he discovered a new way of life. He now earns more than four times his previous income by selling chilled camel milk using solar energy.

The chillers can cool up to 500 liters of milk every day. The cost of setting up the solar-powered chillers is ₹650,000 (~$7,731.77). “When the project was in the pilot stages, the foundation bore the cost. However, as the project took off, we started to create financial linkages and help farmers unlock loans from rural banks. Ground partners, end users, and SELCO contribute to setting up the chillers,” Akshatha said.

Today, more than 200 farmers are using solar-powered chillers, but a few years ago, selling camel milk was taboo in the Raika community.

“The people had a belief that barred them from selling the camel milk. They would use the milk at home, but selling it was not an option. These camels could produce up to 10 liters of milk daily, but they were not being milked at all, ” says Anshul Ojha, Desert Resource Centre.

Recalling those days, Sree Ram Raika said, “Before introducing milk chillers and cold chain facilities, we did not utilize/sell camel milk. The camel rearing and agriculture income was bleak and made our survival difficult.”

Camel rearing and agriculture were the only sources of income for the farmers living in villages in regions like Jaisalmer and Bikaner.

Gainaram said, “Despite receiving government recognition for our efforts in camel conservation, the community struggled to generate a regular income from rearing them, relying on supplementary earnings from other livestock to support the camels.”

He now has a herd of 300 camels and earns a healthy income.

“I can now provide high-quality camel milk with solar-powered instant milk chillers. This sustained income gives me hope that future generations will continue our tradition of camel rearing.”

The 100% solar chillers generate 3 kW per chiller. “We have four chillers installed in different areas. We have about 200 farmers collaborating with us,” said Ojha.

Discussing how the technology works, Akshatha says, “Once the milk is poured from the inlet at the top of the chiller, it instantly chills the milk to below 7 degrees Celsius, and the farmer can collect it immediately through the outlet.”

The community of farmers, along with SELCO, looks after the upkeep of the chillers. The solar chillers are connected to a cloud, and any discrepancy can be fixed remotely. The machine also has a regular cleaning mechanism. During the installation, the farmer is trained to use the technology and its operation and maintenance.”

Solar energy can be an effective solution to power cold storage facilities in India. Rooftop solar is particularly relevant to cold storage facilities, typically located in rural areas with plenty of sunlight and unused rooftop spaces. Cold storage installers claim that switching to solar energy translates to cost savings.

According to industry insiders, the cost of a five-metric-ton solar-powered cold storage unit ranges from ₹1.20 million (~$15,175) to ₹1.50 million (~$18,969). The units come with a 5-kW solar panel array atop.

In March 2021, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) called for feedback from the public and stakeholders on the preliminary design specifications for solar cold storage. The storage capacity of the SCS, ranging from 2 MT to 10 MT, was intended to be exclusively powered by solar photovoltaic as a distributed renewable energy source.