After the success of the Mundanmudy project, rcss applied to the Union ministry of non-conventional energy for the dealership of Aditya solar shop, a shop that sells solar equipment in Cochin. Without much trouble, the ministry accepted the request and the shop has been running successfully ever since. Of the 20 odd Aditya solar shops in the country, only four are run by NGOs.

"The shop is one of the few successful Aditya solar shops in India. This is because of the good after sales service that we provide,' says Benny George, manager, Aditya solar shop. In 1999, the first year the shop was set up, the shop placed an order of 1,000 solar lanterns, 250 home lighting systems and 50 street lights and unlike many Aditya solar shops, almost all of them were sold within the first year. Owing to the success, the order was doubled in the second year.

"One of the reasons for the low success rate of most Aditya solar shops in the country is because they are run by the government,' says George. Usually, they run the shop like how they run a government office, and after sales service is usually not provided. Besides, there are other problems like insufficient manufacturers and high initial investment, not to mention the sub-standard quality of the products.