Solar Powered Computers Planned for Rural India

securitas writes "BBC Technology correspondent Ram Dutt Tripathi reports on India's Uttar Pradesh state where authorities plan to use solar energy to power computers in rural village schools. The cost to run the solar panels is anticipated to be £1,000 per school. According to the report, up to 80% of homes have no power and most government-run primary schools have no power at all. In 2003 the Uttar Pradesh state government bought '1,000 computers for selected primary schools in all 70 districts' with another 1000 to be purchased this year, 'but most of these will not work because there is no power available.' The project is similar to a solar-powered school computer lab on the Isle of Wight."

Comments

who would have thought...

[calculadoru]

...that it was going to be a nation as poor as India that would first try to use technology without damaging the environment? I get this nagging feeling some nations should take notice...

Re:who would have thought...

[Daetrin]

The fact that it's a "green" energy is really just a nice side effect. India is presumably doing it because it's much cheaper than trying to fix a the massive problems in their power grid.

When we've actually take the time to focus on it, we've been able to improve technology to do a lot more stuff with the same or less amount of energy, while at the same time improving our methods of generating and storing energy. This is making distributed energy generation feasible for people who want to live off the grid or for people who have no effective grid in the first place.

In other words this is a boon both for activists and poor countries with crappy infrastructure. It may mean that even if the US and other developed countries fall down on the job, some second or third world country may get around to building an energy web just by following the path of least resistance.

Re:who would have thought...

[Stephen Samuel]

The fact that it's a "green" energy is really just a nice side effect. India is presumably doing it because it's much cheaper than trying to fix a the massive problems in their power grid.

That's why places like Indonesia had a strong cell phone culture long before it became as big in North America -- they didn't have a choice.
It's SOOOO much easier to pop a microwave antenna and a cell tower on a pole somewhere and give everybody a cell phone than it is to run a wire to every house and end up with non-mobile service.

The only reason why wireline phone service is (was) cheaper than cell phones is that the vast majority of the infrastructure has been in place and paid for for decades. As a (phone company manager) friend of mine once said, once you've paid for the overhead, the rest of the usage is almost pure profit".

I can see similar effects taking place WRT 'off-grid' power production. If there's no grid to be off of, then it's a no-brainer.

Re:who would have thought...

[fallenangel99]

In Kerala, the southwest state of India, everybody has cellphones.. i mean everybody, even the fishermen!!!! When I was on vacation there, I saw numerous cell phone towers on top of buildings, kids, older people, taxi drivers, fishermen, etc all have cell phones. Its much cheaper AND easier to get a mobile phone. To get a land line phone, you had to sumbit a request with your town phone company. It would take anywhere from 1-3 years for you to get approved (heh in Kerala, you can see red commie flags all over, oh and our state gov't is Communist; CPI-M: Communist Party of India: Marxist). I know this because it took 3 years for us to get a phone. Now with mobile phones, its faster and nobody wants the landline phones. Plus, with a strong wind, the telephone poles would fall (and knocking off electricity too) and your landline wont work. O Yeah, the cell phones outside the U.S are wayy cooler. SMS (or text messaging as known in U.S) has been around since 1995 for the World. Its only catching up in the U.S now!

I don't agree with the fact that India is a "poor nation". Most states in India are self sufficient, meaning they have their own farms,cows for milk, crops for vegetables, food, etc. Other goods they can easily buy for cheap. Since these are produced in a farm that you own, they dont factor in the GDP (no exports or imports). That is why India's GDP is #30 or something like that
But if you use the PPP method (purchasing power parity) and count these self-sufficient households, India ranks #5 in the world!!!

I will use Kerala (my state, also National Geographics Top 10 Paradise in the world) as an example. In Kerala, about 99.99% of houses have land adjacent. They have lots of coconut trees, banana plants, vegetable gardens, cows for milk, chicken for eggs. No money is ever used for these products. Hence, they dont calcuate in the GDP.

Not only that, most people in Kerala save their money. They put it ALL in banks. You can see people having satellite dish's on their roofs.. and guess what? its FREE. All you have to do is buy the dish, pay for installation, and then its free to get over 200+ channels! Would such a thing exist in the U.S? No..Electricy: is very cheap. Only about 100 Rs for 2 months (about $2). Why? Kerala uses hydro plants but I dont really know why its cheap. They lose power about 3 times a week (just for 30mins-1hr). I think this , and many other reasons, is why people think India is "poor". People dont really spend money and dont want to give money. I am sure if the gov't wasnt corrupt and enforced income tax violations, charged a monthly fee for satellite dish, had more private competition, India would be very succesfull in the World. Before in India ALL you would see were Ambassador cars.. since India opened up to private cars, you can see Ford, Toyota, Benz, GM, Chevrolet, Opel, Tata on the roads (even though the roads suck!!!!)

Money cannot be "made" if people save it and not use it.. in the U.S people make money.. but they also spend so much for taxes, buying, etc. Hence, money is "recylced". No such thing in India.

Heck, the recent Indian elections were ALL electronic.. and the U.S cant even count paper ballots (re: Florida!)

Enough ranting.. =)

Wonder why 1000 pounds!?

[Anonymous Coward]

According to what I know at least 80% of it will be pocketed by corrupt politicians and other 'officials'.
That is the way things function in India.

Re:Wonder why 1000 pounds!?

[melkorainur]

This would likely have been true in the 1990s. But today, with a substantial increase in public education standards, as well as increased cooperation with non-govermental organizations (typically populated by well educated, well meaning young individuals), corruption has been on the decrease. Here's the stats on perceived corruption index. It shows India at 2.8. 10 is squeaky clean. UK, Canada at 8.7. US at 7.5. URL is here InfoPlease I would like to see rate of reduction of corruption. Overall, from talking with acquaintenances it has been on the decrease but clearly there's substantial room for improvement.

Re:Wonder why 1000 pounds!?

[Zorilla]

Somebody want to buy this guy an "enter" key?

Next

[xedx]

is figuring out how to get them internet access

Re:Next

[MHleads]

It is already there!

Sounds like the US

[CAIMLAS]

This sounds like the US: lots of expensive computers bought for schools where there is no need, no practical application for them all, or even a single fucking use, as there's way too many.

Computers are education's snake oil, and Microsoft the salesman.

Re:Sounds like the US

[dark404]

yeah because a computer is a resource that only has a few functions, so the schools need to have a specific use in mind before they buy them. I mean it's not like they could buy a bunch of them, and place them in some sort of "Lab" where students could use them when they needed them?

Re:Sounds like the US

[lskziq]

Ummm. There's nothing in the article about MS sponsoring this. In fact, based purely on my own experience from grade-school to grad-school, Macs make up the lion's share of computers in US public schools. But that's all besides the point: this is article is about novel power sources for schools.

Re:Sounds like the US

[barzok]

Except they don't just know how to use them with zero instruction. And the schools lack a curriculum for educating them in the use of the computers, or lack any practical applications of them.

I saw this when I was volunteering at a local school about 18 months ago. We were getting donated PCs cleaned up and usable so that each classroom would have a computer. What did the teachers intend to do with them? "Oh we don't know yet, but we want the computers. We can use PowerPoint to put our lesson plans on the TV in the classroom, right?" The PCs that were already in the school that we were supplementing were all loaded with spyware, games, and other assorted crap that made the machines barely usable (or in some cases, unbootable entirely).

I'm not expecting the school to have a specific use in mind - but at the very least, have some practical reason for laying out the time and money. You don't buy a car and then say "hmmm....now, what will I do with this thing?" - you identify a need for personal transportation, then purchase the device that helps you achieve that goal.

Re:Sounds like the US

[russint]

Except they don't just know how to use them with zero instruction. And the schools lack a curriculum for educating them in the use of the computers, or lack any practical applications of them.

So let them learn by them selves? Kids are great at learning and exploring new things.

Re:Sounds like the US

[16K Ram Pack]

Relifram,

I remember seeing some education software for schools some years ago, and across the board it was rubbish.

The UK curriculum, led by the dear leader Tony Blair is very big on kids using computers. It's the same as that Simpsons episode about the monorail - spend millions on something shiny rather than dealing with the real issues.

I think the money spent on computers in schools would generally be better spent on more teachers, allowing class sizes to be reduced.

What makes no sense to me is that PCs are very much a solo activity - it's you interacting with the computer. How does that really fit in with a classroom situation well?

One argument I've heard is that people need computers for work, but then that brings in the question of the purpose of education. Even viewing education as producing children for workplaces, you have to then accept that a whole heap of jobs like childcare, plumbing, construction, haulage and some of the creative industries actually have very little use of computers. General call centre work is an oversubscribed industry (partly a result of people thinking that office work would remain as a high earner) and things like plumbers, builders, "creatives" and nannies are in undersubscribed. Teaching kids how to use computers (as in general use and not programming or multimedia) is like teaching someone in the 19th century how to operate a loom.

I also have myself tried to use CBT packages for software, and nothing replaces being taught a subject by an expert - even on a cost/benefit basis, I still think that a tutor wins.

Isle of Wight

[Hatta]

Well, if they have enough power for Jimi Hendrix, shouldn't they have enough power for a computer lab?

Solar Power + wifi

[IoN_PuLse]

Sounds like an interesting networking idea =)

I'm afraid I don't understand...

[The Master Control P]

They're buying a thousand, and now another thousand computers and showing the teachers how to use them... but most people are fortunate to have enough electric power to run a light bulb at night? Somehow the logic behind that escapes me...

I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.

Re:I'm afraid I don't understand...

[Anonymous Coward]

What the fsck good is a lightbulb if you are still stuck in the third world? Hmm, a lightbulb at night (which these people have ALWAYS lived without) or my child's education. Tough one.

Indians know they can make money doing computer work. I've seen companies in the US that were almost exclusively Indian's with visas. We also outsource a ton of stuff over there.

I tell you right now, if my daughter was starving and I wanted a better way of life for her, I'd give up lightbulbs, sewers, shelter and whatever the fsck else it took to make sure she could afford those things in the future.

Re:I'm afraid I don't understand...

[melkorainur]

> I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.
If only things were that easy. You have to remember that building infrastructure is extremely capital intensive. You can only do that if you've got a good budget surplus, and that's something that the Indian government does not have because 1) low tax rate 2) poor tax enforcement quality 3) corruption. Further, very few Indian government officials are altruistic enough to care about development of rural areas [although that has changed significantly due to India's last election results]. I should note that corruption is also decreasing thanks to increasing education standards and knowledge amoung the poor. Also thanks to NGOs that work to address the issue. But there is a tonne more work to be done in that area.

I think the main idea is to drive the demand for infrastructure by all means possible. You give these rural areas a look at computers, an idea of how they can help. You give the teachers in the rural ideas a view of the future. You let them inspire the children and the parents. The next thing you know, the infrastructure demands will increase and slowly but surely it'll get done.

So yeah, first things first is fair enough. They're just trying a different approach to solve the problem. Drive rural demand up and these folk may just get there. You've got to remember things are not that simple when you don't have a spare billion dollars that you can throw at the problem.

Re:I'm afraid I don't understand...

[kfg]

What the fsck good is a lightbulb if you are still stuck in the third world?

Being able to see at night and plug a radio into the socket included in the light fixture, just like in the rest of the world.

Third world doesn't mean stone age, unless, of course, you don't have a lightbulb. It's the lightbulb that makes the difference.

I've lived in the third world in houses without and without lightbulbs and with and without indoor plumbing. The inclusion of a lightbulb is a far more desirable advancment than indoor plumbing.

KFG

Re:I'm afraid I don't understand...

[kfg]

A radio, I'll give you. There could be some real benefit from that.

It comes with the lightbulb.

As for light at night, candles and oil lamps have been used for longer than lightbulbs have been around.

Ironically, here in the first world, within sight of where the first carbon filiment lightbulb was made and where until a few years ago 90% of the entire worlds electrical generators were made I rely on oil lamps, but back them up with lightbulbs.

They suck compared to lightbulbs

No they don't. They have certain advantages, but do have certain disadvantages. Fire risk is one of them, especially if you have children around the house. Mine had grown up and left.

would you rather provide for your children's future or would you rather have a lightbulb to see at night when you:

Why do you think I want the lightbulb?

1. Already have the means.

Third world does not in any imply you don't have the means, but even if you have the means first you may well need the infrastructure.

2. Have no real pressing need to see at night.

How about reading to your kids and helping them with their schoolwork, in a low fire risk enviroment?

KFG

Good for them...

[Anonymous Coward]

...even though it would probably cost less to place a landline from a major power substation to the area where these computers are supposed to be. Solar power is still damned expensive, and it has its limitations.

Re:Good for them...

[WOV]

"Probably" indicates an unresearched assumption...$8,000 - $10,000 per kilometer (EEI, EPRI, others,) just to string wires, over relatively unchallenging terrain, in the West, with skilled preexisting crews, from an existing power station, assuming there is a major power substation, then gives you the right to begin *paying* the power bill. Since few or none of these conditions exist pervasively in rural India, let's say the high end of that.

Meanwhile, an off-grid solar system (if you get it from, e.g. India's new homegrown PV industry) - panels, charge controller, racks, and batteries - will cost you about $8 / Watt. For distributed small loads (and by "small" here, I mean up to the sort of village power scale - 50,000 Watts or so - solar power is generally cheaper on an *installation* basis than conventional power sources, even before you account for O&M and fuel costs. Beyond that scale, even something like a natural gas microturbine (see Capstone et al.

In the US, these DG projects have a major financial disadvantage due to the existence of the grid - built in large part as a massive public works / employment project during the New Deal. In the developing world, with dispersed, rapidly growing populations, DG makes more sense, provided people can get past the wires and stacks mentality.

I would say "damned expensive" is no longer quite true...In 1976, 1 WWatt of solar power "retailed" for about $60 / Watt. In 1986, $10 / Watt, in 2004, bulk buy, about $3. (It's the batteries, balance-of-system stuff, and labor that more than doubles that.

And remember, solar power is "right now"/"I brought it in on the yak" power, not "wait for four years, we'll build a power plant and associated rail line and get the grid right over those Himalayas to you." power....that has real value, as well.

tools

[celeritas_2]

Computers are overrated as an educational tool. I think it would be much more important and helpful to have electric lights than access to sex.com. Overrated this post is. as Yoda would say. But really paying to educating teachers in india more, and providing better facilities would help more than a room full of Apple IIs

Re:tools

[manavendra]

>Computers are overrated as an educational tool.

That's not entirely true. About 15 years ago, in my school in a then-rural town (which is now a city) in India, they had introduced computers. Not many people knew anything about it, not the teachers even. They all had a basic understanding of how it worked, how to boot up (those were dos 2.1 or so days) and basic troubleshooting. FYI, these were old IBM busybee computers (if I remember correctly).

However, the school went about teaching "computers" in the same way everything else was addressed - starting with the basic first. The first year we spent understanding a lot of theory (admittely a part of learning was by rote), however, second year onwards they started teaching us to program (using BASICA or GWBASIC). This immediately changed the entire perspective towards computers. Whereas earlier when we (us students, the kids) would be happy to just spend a while fiddling with the keyboard or being in awe at the capability to delete characters as well on the screen (the earliest thing we had seen was the typewriter), now, there were hordes of students spending extra hours after school doing their assignments, learning programming fundamentals, etc. Sure, we weren't great programmers or weren't working on anything mission critical, but those computers made a hell of a lotta difference in our lives.

In the subsequent years, not only almost every other school got the computers, the students graduated with a reasonable computer background, and went on to take better paying jobs. I can go on and on about the benefits...

>but really paying to educating teachers in india more, and providing better facilities would help more than a room full of Apple IIs Teachers in India are paid a reasonably good salary. In fact, most women prefer teaching jobs since they are not too onerous, give them a number of benefits (the state covers the medical bills, and though you go to the state-owned hospitals, the doc appointments can he had within a day's notice usually). Secondary school (or high school) teachers, degree-level teachers and professors get paid even better of course.

However, I agree on better facilities. Sure, that'd make a big difference, but it's a long way in coming. I like to think that computers changed my small town in so many different ways (it is now one of the hubs of computer education in that part of my state, the jobs are plenty and people even freelance producing utility software for local businesses), and I'm sure the government is keen to replicate that model

Re:Why not generate power...

[nodwick]

It's been tried already - 5 minutes of computing for one minute of pedaling.

Having just returned from the gym, I can't help but think of the clustering possibilities of a long row of treadmills and elliptical skiers ...

Whatever you have to do to drag yourself up

[gelfling]

This is a good thing because whatever you have to do to rise yourself up out of this shit is good. If you have to bring in solar panels, burn trash, slaughter a chicken, what-the-fuck-ever.

In 10 years your boss or your senator will be one of these people who absofuckinglutely will not be denied.

Also in PNG

[joeldixon66]

This is a great idea, something similar has been happening in the Paupa New Guinea highlands - link.

Perhaps they could also harness the power of flies?

Well...

[inertia187]

I've had mine for a while now, and it's great. Until it gets dark, like right about n

Re:Why not generate power...

[NarrMaster]

What is this "the gym" you speak of?

Use the flies powered fuel cell

[mache]

Didn't we just see a robot powered by a fly digesting fuel cell. The heck with solar power. India has plenty of flies. Just power the school's computer lab with flies.

-- Mache

Donations?

[holysin]

Um, am I completely blind or is there no link to donate, or number to call to donate? Yes, I know this is the comerical world and most of us don't care about the rest of the planet. But there's a few of us that do. Hell, I'd donate $20 now, and that makes me wonder how many others would... A lot of people don't want to donate to the christian childrens funds because they tend to push religion down people's throats.

Re:Donations?

[melkorainur]

Donating money is not the best way for you to help. Instead of donating money, just help create a free, fair society. Let's say your hardware firm needs linux device drivers or hardware designed or software or whatever, don't just consider European and American companies, give a thought to Indian companies too. Prevent governments from instituting unfair tarrifs and sanctions [lookup US textile tarrifs and you'll see why it's cheaper and better [quality included] to make tee-shirts in India than in the US]. Vote for representatives that speak the truth, and truly care for building a better world. I've heard good things about Obama for Illinois, for example. That's the best way you can help. Punish large multinational organizations that do unfair things like attempt to bribe officials [Haliburton, Enron]. Bribery starts there, their money funds the weapons used by illegitimate governements/officials to hold back the civillian populace.

Just what we need more Indian computer users

[NotQuiteReal]

Isn't the usual slashdot instinct to bemoan computer jobs going to India? This is where it starts.

With a little training your job can be outsourced to someone moonlighing on a solar powered computer in a school in India. Damn, those jobs must suck.

Someone put the CRT before the horse.

[Artifakt]

Getting the machines before the power infrastructure is in place is dumb, and NOT just for the obvious reason (having invested a lot of money into something that will take success with a second investment to become useful is always risky). It's dumb because having electricity in those isolated areas is useful for so many other things besides computers, it should have happened already.
There's tons of medical equipment that requires at least a little power, there's basic emergency communications, and there's all the simpler school supplies that require electricity. If none of these things justified getting some power to these people, computers in the classroom doesn't either.
We're not just talking relatively high powered systems (such as x-ray machines) that are the equivalent of entire desktop computer labs either. What about small centrifuges or cautery equipment for medicine? What about having enough radio for local government to report being hit by a bad storm or earthquake? What about a few lights to read by, so that school can be held indoors when it rains?
There are no compact, low energy computer systems that are any more efficient than those devices, and there are even surpluses of many of those devices in storage where they have been replaced by newer gear. Just imagine all the old filmstrip projectors or drafting tables in various urban school systems closets being put to use out in the country instead of gathering dust.

Re:Someone put the CRT before the horse.

[gordo3000]

just to tell you, most things in india are that way. My parents grew up in india and I have been there more times that I can actually count, and I have had many times where we don't have reliable power, there are beggars outside the front door on the street, and there is a computer in the household. Its the way it works, India is the country that seemed to miss out on the 20th century(a line taken from my dad).

This is how india improves itself, massive poverty, massive infrastructure and road problems, and yes, people still using that cart and horse at times in larger cities, and then guess where lots of high tech jobs go. Its hard to believe, but its how India see's its future going. Its a strong belief that if someone can get a good education, that next generation can go live somewhere with a decent power supply and clean water. Its really driving towards that future. Now, if things like textile industries weren't foolishly protected in the US(namely, making me pay a higher price for clothing) these 3rd world countries would improve even faster because what infrastructure they do have becomes a lot more profitable and they can expand faster.

Don't underestimate how hard it is to provide power to rural india. It's no small task and my uncle who lives there for the longest time had on site generators for his farm(large plantation, and actually my mother's uncle, though I make no distinction). It takes years to put these things up. Imagine, no matter how advanced we are, we have several places in the US without access to cable TV because that infrastructure is too expensive to put in. What do you think India is looking at with almost 4x the people and a microscopic percentage of the money.

Anyways, in your worryment about places like hospitals, they usually have onsite generators for small draw power items and if this type of electricity works, it could easily be expanded into the other fields. Keep in mind in many places in india, they are used to doing many complex medical procedures without power. An example is syphoning the blood from a person as you cut to do surgery. You can't have all htat blood in the way and if you don't have power you need to have some way to get the blood out of there. Just 30 years ago they used an interesting system where the tube that was used to siphon was connected at a 90 degree angle to a larger tube that they ran water through. Fluid moves, lower pressure, suction without power. This was used by my father when he worked in the Capital before coming to the US. If the capital didn't have a good power supply 30 years ago, what makes anyone think it will be all that spread out now?

I do agree that many of the items we have in our schools gathering dust could do a lot of good in India and similar countries and should be sent there, but this is how India will deal with this. This approach has led to the tech boom that we in the US degrade as outsourcing. Maybe they are onto something we can't understand?

Now you're cooking with ga-- er, Solar.

[Mulletproof]

Solar Power!? Let me guess, they're not using AMDs :D

Seriously though, plug some pentium M's in there and you might be able to do the job fairly efficiently. That, and I've always wondered if you couldn't somehow recycle all that excess heat bled off by the chip itself. Kinda like the regenerative braking in cars in away...

Why the power conversion?

[Timbotronic]

Yet another solar power project that's converting the DC output to mains voltage AC and then back again.

Wouldn't it be better just to charge up a big array of car batteries and then feed the power directly to the motherboards (after a bit of voltage conversion etc)? There's no need to use AC power unless you're transmitting it over long distances. Right Mr Tesla?

Similar to Cambodia

[Sara Chan]

Solar panels are also used for general electricity supplies in the Cambodia Schools project. There are currently about 250 such schools (funded by private charitable donations, with matching grants from the World Bank; computers are donated by Apple). There was a Slashdot story about these schools in January, and how they hook up to the Internet via motorbike.

Giving children an education is fundamental to long-term economic development.

Why solar?

[A coward on a mouse]

I think solar may be preferred because it requires zero infrastructure beyond shipping, installation, maintenance, and disposal. Also, sunlight is (so far) not something that can be bought and sold, so the intended users won't wind up beholden to someone selling fuel. Lastly, little to no day-to-day effort goes in to consuming solar power, so the user won't have to find time to do anything new other than use the electricity.

I think what's most exciting about this sort of thing is the distribution of decentralized power generation technology based on renewable energy sources. I'm sure if a situation arises where compost gas or wind power or micro-hydroelectric power is a better fit, this kind of project could adapt to use an energy source other than solar.

Sad

[ddelrio]

This story was so sad, I almost felt like offering an Indian my job.

Re:Power

[Aardpig]

These people don't need computers, they need basic electric applicances like a refrigerator and indoor lights FIRST.

From personal experience, kerosine-powered fridges and lamps are far, far better options than electrically-powered equivalents. They can be repaied using local know-how, and distribution networks for kerosene are typically already well established in developing countries.

It's always best to save the electricity for those items that absolutely need it. Computers fall into this category, fridges and lights do not.

Give them hope ....

[Gopal.V]

> I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.

I'm in India and often I see houses with no running water have TV antenna sticking out of it ... apparently priorities are slightly different :)

That aside, if you go to my home state Kerala, and ask a maid servant (who earns about 50 USD per month) where her son is , you'll be surprised to learn he's in college and studying engineering. Government funding and cross subsidisation ensures that education is cheap for the merit students. Unfortunately this phenomenon seems to be isolated to Kerala .

What I wanted to say is that this bold and risky investment on the future happens only when the people see a bright future ahead. These computers might bring hope to a few people in India and might urge them to not quit school before they're 14.

PC Power Supplies

[Detritus]

The problem is that modern motherboards need more than generic DC power from an external source. The power requirements of modern motherboards are very severe for current and voltage regulation. This has resulted in the use of DC/DC converters that are tightly integrated into the motherboard design to meet the performance requirements. The performance requirements for a P4 power supply are insane. This means that the external DC power supply is mostly a source of bulk power that it converted to AC on the motherboard, before being converted to usable, regulated DC power for the various chips.

So what we have today is AC wall power being converted to DC in the PC power supply, then being converted back to AC, and then regulated DC on the motherboard. Some parts of the motherboard can directly run off the DC from the power supply. With solar power there is an additional DC/AC conversion stage to feed the power supply.

We might be better off with motherboards that were designed to run off loosely regulated 48VDC, like a lot of telecom equipment. This could be sourced from batteries, solar panels, or a simple DC power supply connected to an AC line. The motherboard would use DC/DC converters to convert the 48VDC to the required local regulated DC voltages.

Computer skills aren't everything...

[doodlelogic]

If computers are in every classroom, and some of the teachers don't know how to use them fully, that should not matter. The job of an e.g. history teacher is to teach history, some will do that through whizzy technology, others will use group exercises or front of class lectures. They can all be excellent teachers, notwithstanding (because of?) their focussed skill sets.

It sounds trite, but different pupils have different learning styles too, so having some computer incompetent teachers may actually be a good thing.

Re:How efficient is the PhotoVoltaic cell ?

[Yokaze]

> The one which I used many years ago wasn't efficient at all, and they are bulky as hell.

What is it with people being so obsessed with "efficiency" of solar cells? It's not like you're going to log them around all the time or place it right on your lawn. More important is the costs (and enviromental impact) of the production of them.

Imagine a dirt cheap, enviromentally friendly solar cell with 5% efficiency. We'd see all the roofs plastered with them.

> What's the highest solar --> electricity conversion rate achieved so far ?

For most people (those of us, that don't haul a satelites into orbit, or equip cars with them) that number is pureley academically. But, since you asked: Record 25%. Typical: 10-15%.

Sounds like a job for

[ColonBlow]

Sun microsystems.

Re:How efficient is the PhotoVoltaic cell ?

[adamfranco]

The Materials Engineering Lab at Colorado State is doing some really cool stuff with thin-film PV modules. They are able to get 12.44% efficiences from cells that they make evaporating CdS/CdTe onto a glass backing.

The really cool thing (lots of pictures in the linked site) is that the manufacturing process is very simple (a conveyour belt passes glass into a vaccum-chamber and over several crucibles containing the CdS/CdTe to be evaporated onto the glass) and produces no liquid and virtually no solid waste. As well, if I can remember correctly from my visit to the lab, the raw materials (metals that will be evaporated onto the glass) are readily availible as by-products from other industrial processes.

Hopefully this technology will be out of the lab and in wide-scale use in the near future.