We put one tubewell on solar. Here's the honest math.

No green slogans — a diesel bill, a solar quote, and what actually happened after four months. Numbers included.

I'll be honest about why we started with solar: it wasn't the environment, it was the diesel bill. Our main tubewell was drinking roughly ₨60,000 of diesel a month in the irrigation season, and diesel has only ever moved in one direction.

The quote for panels, structure, and a variable-speed drive for one tubewell was steep enough that my father asked me to read it out twice. But the arithmetic was hard to argue with: at our usage the panels pay for themselves in about three years, and panels last twenty-five. After year three, that water is close to free.

Four months in, the surprises have been small but real. Cloudy days mean weaker flow, so irrigation now follows the sun's schedule instead of ours — we water the far plots at midday when the pump is strongest, not in the evening when it's convenient. The old diesel engine is still there as a backup, and some weeks it runs. That's fine. This is a transition, not a photo opportunity.

The plan is one more tubewell converted each year as the savings stack up, which is what our '60% renewable by 2030' target actually means in practice — not a pledge on a poster, but a pump at a time, paid for by the last one.

If you're a farmer nearby thinking about it: come and look at ours before you sign anything. Chai is on us, and so are the real numbers.