Search

We examine unequal outcomes in the implementation of India's national rural electrification program in Uttar Pradesh. We ask two questions: (1) to what extent did Dalits, the lowest group in India's caste hierarchy, receive less attention when the state electrified rural communities? (2) Was BSP, the state's Dalit party, able to reduce this inequality? Using data from a hundred thousand villages, we provide robust evidence for unequal outcomes. Villages inhabited solely by Dalits were 20 percentage points less likely to be covered by the program than villages without any Dalits. Moreover, a regression discontinuity analysis shows that the electoral success of BSP failed to reduce such differences. These results highlight the magnitude and persistence of caste inequality in the implementation of democratic public policy, despite political representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main factor having severe impact on lives of millions of people under the poverty line is energy deficiency. For the improvement of living and standard of education, there is a need to electrify the rural areas. India has an aim of achieving 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. The use of Renewable Energy Technologies propounds huge benefits to rural areas. Over the past two decades, rural electrification has been a continuous process, accelerated through various programs and schemes. Uttar Pradesh state of India, located in the north central region of the country is the most populous state. Energy demand is increasing steadily with the development of the state. With respect to limited conventional energy sources and increasing environmental pollution, production of energy based on renewable energy sources is given high priority. This paper presents the current status of renewable energy in the state, renewable energy-based options for rural electrification including the single technology-based systems, integrated and the hybrid energy systems depending on availability of resources. The current scenario of power generation and requirement is also discussed. A complete analysis of the current CO2 emission and the mitigation potential of different RESs are presented. Based on this the cost saving potential is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How beneficial is basic energy access – typically lighting and mobile charging – for rural households? Despite research on the economic impacts of basic energy access, few studies have investigated how it changes household behavior. Here we report results from a randomized controlled trial in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, which identifies the behavioral impacts of providing solar lanterns to households that normally rely on kerosene as their primary source of lighting. Eighty-nine of the 184 households participating in the study were given a free, high-quality solar lantern. Comparing changes in responses from the baseline questionnaire and an endline questionnaires administered six months later, we find that the lanterns reduced energy expenditures, improved lighting, improved satisfaction with lighting, more use of lighting for domestic activities (e.g., reading), and improved satisfaction with lighting for domestic activities. Overall, our results show that basic energy access can offer substantial benefits within the households, even if broader rural economic transformation is not plausible. • Measure effect of basic lighting on rural Indian households' behavior and satisfaction • Solar lanterns reduced energy expenditures while increasing lighting. • Basic lighting improved satisfaction with lighting and perceptions of solar. • Time spent on domestic activities requiring lighting (e.g., reading) also increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the costs of solar PV continuously decrease and pollution legislation imposes less burning of agricultural residues, decentralized renewable energy is increasingly affordable for providing electricity to one billion people lacking access to a power grid. This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility case study of biomass gasification in off-grid and grid-connected mini-grids for community-scale energy application in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. Energy demand data was collected through surveys in a village with irrigation and agro-processing loads and off-grid households and used to construct a seasonal load profile based on statistical methods. This was used to simulate single-source and hybrid mini-grids based on solar PV, biomass gasification and diesel generation using HOMER Pro. Hybrid PV-biomass or PV-diesel systems were found to offer the highest reliability for off-grid power at the lowest cost. Single-source PV was cheaper than biomass gasification, though the cost of electricity is highly sensitive to biomass supply and gasifier maintenance. Both renewable options were around half the cost of diesel generation. The findings held across grid-connected systems with weak, moderate and strong reliability of grid supply. This suggests that biomass gasification-based mini-grids are not cost-competitive with PV unless the two generation sources are combined in a hybrid system, though they require operational testing prior to implementation. Image 1 • Hybrid PV–biomass or PV–diesel systems offer higher reliability at lower cost. • PV is cheaper than biomass gasification mini-grids for productive energy provision. • Grid-connected PV offers lowest LCOE over 20 years for strong and weak grid supply. • LCOE of biomass systems is highly sensitive to biomass requirement and maintenance. • PV–biomass systems appear resilient to operating parameters but lack field testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an economic and enhanced technological solution for rural electrification of a village Jalalabad, in Ghaziabad District, Uttar Pradesh state, India. The considered system concentrates on optimal sizing of an integrated renewable energy system (IRES) with grid provide a more continuous power supply with respect to the existing system. The different available sources Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV), Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and a time constrained grid are considered in designing of the system. The system size optimization, sensitivity analysis and techno-economic viability has been done by using a standard software tool HOMER to fulfil the demand of the study area under consideration. A demand response strategy has been applied for the different load profiles. The configuration with the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Total Net Present Cost (TNPC) with maximum value of renewable fraction (RF) has been considered as optimum. This ensures the minimization of the Carbon dioxide (CO 2) emission. A comparative analysis has been presented showing the impact of the demand response on the LCOE and NPC as well as the system size. The economic analysis has been done according to four different cases obtained by varying the fraction (β NELS) of non-essential load shifting. It has been observed that the value of LCOE with the strategy of demand response and optimal resource management under which β NELS = 0.25 is reduced Rs. 11.23/kWh and Rs. 8.36/kWh with the grid tariff Rs.10/kWh and Rs.6/kWh respectively while the value of TNPC Rs. 1.99 × 107 and Rs. 1.48 × 107 respectively with the maximum renewable fraction of 31.06. An exhaustive performance analysis has been done and the obtained results show the effectiveness of proposed resource and demand management to provide 24 × 7 supply with limited, time constrained grid availability. • An economic, enhanced solution for PV & BESS with grid is determined in this study. • Demand response and resource optimization is used to achieve 24 × 7 power supply. • Optimal sizing, sensitivity analysis and energy cost with grid price is analyzed. • Demand response strategy has been used to reduce LCOE & TNPC. • It is found that LCOE & TNPC decrease with fractional non-essential load shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar lamps are a quick, affordable, and effective way to provide basic lighting for households in rural areas of developing countries. However, implementers and researchers argue that the market for solar products is hampered by a lack of awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for solar technology. In this paper, we investigate awareness of solar products, household motivation to adopt solar technology, household perception of solar lamps when compared to kerosene-based lighting devices, and lastly, the availability of electricity after dark. We analyzed a repeated-measures (longitudinal) data of 1159 rural households in energy-poor villages in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, India. Longitudinal logistic regression analyses were performed to study how various factors influence users WTP for solar lamps at Indian market price (~8.61 US$) over time. We find that households awareness of various solar products and their motivation to adopt solar technology has increased over time but there is much room to grow awareness in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, especially for solar home systems and solar water pumps. Our model predicted that the households WTP for solar lamps at the market price increased with high income but it is significantly moderated by their level of awareness of solar products and their motivation to adopt solar technology. These findings suggest that increasing awareness of solar products through various dissemination programs leading to significant interest in solar products among people which in turn may enhance their WTP for solar products. • Repeated-measures (longitudinal) data of 1159 rural households in energy-poor villages in India were analyzed. • This study determines factors that influence the households willingness to pay (WTP) for solar lamps in rural India. • Awareness of solar products coupled with motivation to adopt solar technology significantly raise the probability of WTP. • WTP for solar lamps at the market price increases with income. • Awareness of solar products through various programs lead to significant interest in solar energy products among people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]