Shrestha practices what he preaches and uses solar cells to run kitchen appliances to reduce his dependence on LPG, kerosene and firewood. Even the rice cooker in his house is powered by two 85 watt solar panels, two batteries of 100 ampere and an inverter. Shrestha now plans to order low-power refrigerators which can also run on solar.

Shrestha doesn't see any reason why families that splurge on furniture and decoration should complain about the cost of solar panels. "It's not a luxury, solar has become a necessity," he explains, "these systems are very durable and once installed, customers can live hassle-free lives without worrying about load shedding, diesel or inverters."