Internship assignment
Renewable Rajasthan
Solar energy solutions for income generating activities in rural India
Tom Timmerman Stijn Veeger Rony Nedkov
Minor
International Entrepreneurship & Development
16 October 2011
Renewable Rajasthan This is an internship assignment containing a short overview of the project that we will be working on from 1 November 2011 to 21 January 2012 in India. Students Tom Timmerman Stijn Veeger Rony Nedkov
- Applied Sciences - Industrial Design - Technology, Policy and Management
Supervisors Otto Kroesen Rajbeer Singh Vikash Mani
- TU Delft - TU Delft - Garv Energinnovation
Research description
The research will take place in the district called Jhunjhunu which is part of Rajasthan, the largest state in India. The project aims at designing a stand-alone solar power generator in order to improve the living conditions of people living in rural areas. Several governmental programs have been investing in electrification of rural India resulting in a connection to the national electricity grid for the most villages in Rajasthan. Despite these efforts, a substantial number of households in the villages has still no connection. The households that do have a connection are experiencing serious problems with the quality and supply of the electricity. Unpredictable power cuts interfere with the daily activities of the local people making it impossible for them to rely on the availability of electricity. The electricity in rural India is mostly needed for lightning and agriculture activities since agriculture is the primary source of livelihood in rural areas, accounting for 72% of the population. Reliable electricity supply will make development of the local community possible since the electricity can be used to increase productivity in agriculture due the possibility to use energy saving machinery; improve education since people can spend time educating themselves after sunset; provide access to communications such as radio and television; improve healthcare; make setting up local income generating acitivities possible and much more. On a larger scale this development will increase the economical growth of India and eventually decrease the number of people living in poverty.
Problem identification
Ensuring a reliable electricity supply in rural areas poses some big challenges. These challenges range from high grid expansion costs and poverty, to corruption and cultural and social differences between the communities. Dealing with all these problems on national level is not possible considering the scope of and available time for the project. Therefore it is necessary to focus on local problems affecting individuals and small groups inside the communities. The identified problems can be divided in three groups: user based problems, local (non-)governmental organisation based problems and electricity distribution based problems. User based problems • First time investment for connection to electricity grid are too high, therefore villagers depend on subsidies • Lack of sense for ownership and responsibility to maintain the electricity system because the systems are considered to be public assets
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Complicated electricity systems are installed while there is no knowledge how to maintain and operate the systems Unpredictable power cuts Low quality electricity
(non-)governmental organisation based problems • Lack of cooperation when implementing new connections • Lack of sustainable long-term thinking • Corruption, leading to low quality technology investments • Subsidies not reaching the target (poverty) group Electricity distribution based problems • Expanding grid to reach villages requires huge investments • Little electricity demand in rural areas • Lack of cost return due poor financial state of villagers • Wasteful consumption that is not metered and billed These problems characterize the poor state of the electricity connections in villages. For the villagers the main problems are having to deal with unpredictable power cuts, high first time investments, lack of technological education and low quality electricity. Solving these problems will make it for the villagers possible to improve existing or start up new income generating activities and improve their living conditions.
Project goal
The goal for the project has been determined based on the problems mentioned in the previous section. To project’s goal is: • Execute a feasibility study on electrified villages in Rajasthan in order to design a sustainable, stand-alone and customizable solar power generator, combined with new income generating activities for local users. The feasibility study will uncover the current functioning of the electricity distribution and management in the villages. The study will not only reveal the performance aspects, but also the local cultural and social aspects that play a crucial role in the functioning of the system. The obtained information will be used to design a stand-alone solar power generator, which will power newly set up income generating activities to improve the users’ living conditions. The design of the solar power generator and the income generating activities will be combined in a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and a Business Model. Ones the design for the solar power generator and the Business Model for the income generating activity is ready, the company Garv Energinnovations will realize the project.
Research methods and techniques
The research methods that are going to be used are as follows: • Cultural and technological literature study • Interviews • Observation • Presentations and information flyers • Feasibility study • Detailed Project Report
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Literature studies will be used to gather information about how the Indian culture works and the best available technology for designing stand-alone solar power generators. This information is of great importance to make sure the technology will be accepted by the Indian users. To identify what the needs of the potential users in the villages are, interaction is needed. The interviews will provide information about the individuals and their needs. Observations will be used to gather information about the community as one. Combining the information from the interviews and observations should give an accurate picture of the users’ needs. The presentations and flyers will be used to ensure the interactaction and involvement of the villagers. In order to design independent solar electricity solutions, an assessment of the electricity demand, the users’ income, the costs etc. is needed. The feasibility study will determine the possibilities to design solar electricity solutions. All the information from the previous methods will be used to set up a Detailed Project Report. The Detailed Project Report contains the specific information that is needed to build the eventual solar power generator.
Counterparty in India
The counterparty in India is the startup company named Garv Energinnovation. If the Detailed Project Report is approved by the Indian government, than Garv Energinnovation will make a business out of the project to make the technology available for other districts in India. During the research, the company’s role is to provide the resources and facilities we will need in order to do our work.
Envisaged planning
The internship will start on 1 November 2011 in Delhi. We will spend the first few days to settle in India, meet with the director of Garv Energinnovations and prepare our field research. Depending on how long we need to stay in Delhi, we will start our two week field research in the first week. During the field research we will visit cities and villages in the district Jhunjhunu where meetings with local governments and locals will be organized. The purpose of these meetings is to identify and map the status quo cultural, social and management structures in the different communities and to do a feasibility study. Interaction with local people and government officials is of great importance for the accuracy of the information we are to gather. Therefore it might be necessary to spend a few days on every location to win the trust of the locals. Considering the fact that every community is different, it is difficult to plan how long we are supposed to stay at every location. After the field research we will head back to Delhi where we will start evaluating the field research and eventually start designing the solar power generator and the income generating activity. We will have to go back to the villages a few times to involve the local users during the process of designing. This approach should contribute to the participation of the local users and improve the eventual outcome of the project. During the last week in Delhi we will finish the Detailed Project Report and finalize the internship. The flight back is on 21 January 2012 and by then all the reports have to be finished.
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Deliverables
During internship the following deliverables will be written 1. The Internship report will focus on the experiences of the students during the project. The whole working process will be evaluated. What was learned? What went wrong? 2. The Cultural report will be written based on the experiences of working on the project with local people with a different cultural. 3. The Detailed Project Report will contain all the location specific information that is needed to build the stand-alone solar power generator. The financial, social, economical and technological aspects will be discussed. 4. The Business model will contain all the information about the income generating activity that will be combined with the solar power generator. 5. The Recommendation Follow Up Assignment is necessary due the limited time for this project. It is possible that some key aspects of the project are discovered on a later stage, without having the possibility to research. These aspects can be researched by following up assignments
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