This project has established that the rural Himalayan water mill can affordably be converted to a battery charging station. However, what differentiates it from other domestic power generation projects is the issue of sustainable maintenance. The ghatta has been built and repaired locally by the mill owner and his family for centuries. They are already the technical experts for most of the battery charging system. The electrical portion - the alternator - cannot be repaired by the mill owner, but it can be repaired by any auto garage shop in the country. No foreign technology or support is needed for any part of the system.
The benefits of sustainable maintenance, combined with a working proof-of-concept has led many people to now consider ghattas as a legitimate rural power source. The official end of the Nepal Ghatta Project now marks the beginning of the Center for Rural Technology's own ghatta battery charging program. The results of the project have also encouraged local entrepreneurs like Chuda Moni Upadhaya to begin to manufacture and market such systems for use in rural Nepal.
The months we spent on the Nepal Ghatta Project have been nothing short of fantastic. It is our hope that the project has as much of a positive impact on the lives of rural Nepali families as it has had on our own.
-Nathan Eagle and Ben Olding
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