For communities for ever without power, this is a game changer. Energy on tap is hugely empowering. In communities where Gram Oorja has installed mini-grids, many changes have happened. A window to the rest of the world in the form of TV fed by satellite dishes has connected them to the world. From the mundane - like charging a mobile, to the existential - drawing water, grinding grains, lights at home and in the hamlets, to the empowering - a second crop, moving up the produce value chain - all these have become possible. Grids go way beyond the more common home lighting systems, require a higher initial outlay and commitment and require deep community involvement to make it work.

In all cases listed below, the installation of solar pumps reduced the daily drudgery that primarily women and children were subjected to, in fetching water from distant locations. This freed up time for other activities. Additionally solar pumps did the pumping during daylight hours when farmers needed the water the most for their crops.

Generating bio-gas from what is essentially waste or from abundant sunshine allows for certain scenarios that would otherwise not be possible. To wit, bio-gas is directly used via a gas grid for cooking in several households in one of the installations, obviating the need for foraging for firewood (potentially damaging the environment by denuding green cover and adding to air pollution). Computer / science labs in schools with erratic or no power supply have been made possible.