Electrifying rural India
NREL personnel team with the Indian and US governments and an Indian NGO to bring photovoltaic electricity to rural residents of the Sundarbans in India. India is the world's second most populous country, quickly approaching one billion people. Although it has a well-developed electricity grid, many residents have little or no access to electricity and the benefits associated with it. Many rural areas, for example, are isolated from the grid and will not be connected for many years, if ever. One such area is the Sundarbans located in the delta region of the two great rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra. The region lies partially in India and partially in Bangladesh. It is estimated that 1.5 million people live in this area, crisscrossed by many islands and rivers, who have only marginal supplies of electricity generated primarily from diesel generators and batteries. Working with the regional non-governmental organization (NGO), the Ramakrishna Mission and the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, the governments of India and the US initiated a rural electrification initiative in Sundarbans. The initiative was designed to demonstrate the economic and technical feasibility of photovoltaics (PV) to provide limited supplies of electricity for applications such as solar home lighting systems (SHS), water pumping, vaccine refrigeration, communications and economic development activities.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20006003
- Journal Information:
- Solar Today, Vol. 13, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Nov-Dec 1999; ISSN 1042-0630
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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