Project Overview

Project Capacity: 75.4 kWp
Location: Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar
Annual Generation: 99 MWh
Annual CO2 emission reduction: 61 Metric ton
Module: Jinko (325W)
Inverter: Huawei (60kW)

We have installed a 75.4kWp solar PV system for Dana Tharhar Ya Rice Mill in Pyapon. The system is working together with solar, diesel generator & steam-driven dynamo.

Dana Thahar Ya Rice Mill was established in 2003 in order to support the livelihood of people who live near the rice mill area as they can get job opportunities from the rice mill. Our client's vision is to be the most trusted rice producer with standard compliance for safety and hygiene rice mills.  The rice mill is located in the rice pot of Myanmar, the Ayeyarwaddy division. The Ayeyarwaddy division suffered the most during the cyclone Nargis that happened in May 2008.  The client could survive this unforeseen natural disaster and could create job opportunities for around 50 employees and workers.  Our client is also heavily involved in the post-Nargis clean-up. 

The client has been operating the rice mill with the steam-driven boiler and diesel generator until early 2019.  The boiler uses rice husks as fuel. As a result of burning the rice husks to produce steam, there is dirty smoke discharged into the air. Ash is also a dirty by-product of this process that ends up in the nearby river, polluting the river for other recreational and agricultural purposes. The client also uses a diesel generator to power our drying facility. This process also produces considerable carbon emissions. Using the boiler is not efficient and not good for the environment. Using the diesel generator is not so cost-effective and has negative impacts on the environment.

Indigo Energy designed the solar system to work together with the steam-driven dynamo and the diesel generator. The biggest demonstration effect this project will have is not specifically about solar, but about how “old dogs can indeed learn new tricks” – this project will catalyze uptake of and investment in solar in an industry and a region with a very traditional technology base. This rice mill technology is quite old, some of it even dating back to pre-independence times of British origin. By showing that this old technology can blend with the new, other people will be motivated to install by themselves.