Power Issues

The power issue is a huge bottleneck when talking about the economic growth of this country. In fact, the problem isn't getting better - it is getting worse! As the country grows in population, the demand for energy is even greater. In the state of Maharashtra, routine power outages occur almost on a daily basis in some parts of the state. Also, the state electricity board charges exorbitant prices for energy to offset the losses from free-loaders who just tap into their neighbors' electrical lines. Also, load sharing causes power outages for hours at a time - some are as long as 12 hours. Derek and I stumbled across the existence of UPS devices that are supposed to power a television, a fan, a refrigerator and other household items for a few hours. This is a great idea, but the prices of the UPS devices (which rely on Lead-Acid cells) are very high. We were quoted a price of 8000 Rps. (200$) for one of these devices.

This is obviously not a reasonable solution to the scheduled power outages. Another solution for load-sharing outages is the use of Petrol-Kerosene generators that are used by farmers. Of course, these aren't cheap as well, but they provide electricity when needed. Typical generators are run on a combination of Petrol and Kerosene which are usually used to power the irrigation pumps. Solar power is available, as the equatorial sun passes over India for long stretches of the year. This solution has been studied, but the cost of manufacturing solar cells for mass distribution in India isn't economically feasible yet.

Lately, the team has been looking into alternative energy solutions. Human powered solutions have been looked at and considered, and several potential products are being developed that may help many people stranded without electricity. It's interesting to note that even though the power infrastructure is unreliable, the mobile base stations that cell phones connect to are backed up through generators. Telecommunications in the Dark Ages!

Slideshow Link is here