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Solar Powered Computers Planned for Rural India

Posted by samzenpus on from the heliotropic-keyboards dept.

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."

21 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. who would have thought... by calculadoru · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...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...

    --
    The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. -- G.B. Shaw
    1. Re:who would have thought... by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 3, Insightful
      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.

      --
      Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
    2. Re:who would have thought... by fallenangel99 · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.. =)

  2. Wonder why 1000 pounds!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Wonder why 1000 pounds!? by melkorainur · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

  3. Solar Power + wifi by IoN_PuLse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sounds like an interesting networking idea =)

  4. I'm afraid I don't understand... by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:I'm afraid I don't understand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:I'm afraid I don't understand... by melkorainur · · Score: 5, Insightful
      > 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.

    3. Re:I'm afraid I don't understand... by kfg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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

  5. tools by celeritas_2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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

    --
    -- Checking emails and kicking cheats `till the day I die.
  6. Re:Why not generate power... by nodwick · · Score: 3, Interesting
    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 ...

  7. Whatever you have to do to drag yourself up by gelfling · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  8. Re:Sounds like the US by dark404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

  9. Also in PNG by joeldixon66 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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?

  10. Re:Why not generate power... by NarrMaster · · Score: 3, Funny

    What is this "the gym" you speak of?

    --
    That's right. All your base.
  11. Use the flies powered fuel cell by mache · · Score: 4, Funny

    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

  12. Re:Sounds like the US by barzok · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  13. Donations? by holysin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  14. Someone put the CRT before the horse. by Artifakt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    --
    Who is John Cabal?
  15. Give them hope .... by Gopal.V · · Score: 3, Informative

    > 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.

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur