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Abstract Energy Access is one of the prime concerns particularly for the devel-
opment of North Eastern India. Though this region is a hub of natural resources, yet
it is deprived of easy access to commercial energy including, energy for domestic
and other small scale applications. Complete Rural Electrication may not be
possible in this part of the country through a conventional grid due to its remote
geographical locations, dispersed population density and the high cost of extending
transmission lines. This creates an imbalance leading to the lack of basic amenities
and thereby economic backwardness for the north east region persists. In this
regard, decentralized energy solutions become the part of development with respect
to local self-reliance. In general, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate possible
benets of a product design intervention for Micro Solar Energy Systems and Micro
Enterprise, upscaling rural livelihood.
Keywords Micro solar energy system Product design Sustainable develop-
ment Decentralized energy Rural north east India
1 Introduction
Power scenario is that in India alone about 237 million people dont have access to
electricity [1]. There are 19,706 un-electried villages, in which 4169 un-electried
villages alone are in the north-eastern part of India [2]. This comprises about 21%
of total un-electried villages of the country. The north-eastern region is among the
most energy oppressed part of the country due to limitations of technical difculties
and nancial tasking for grid extension that results in poor industrial base and high
un-employment rate [3]. Emergency arising due to natural calamities also draws
attention towards developing a portable and energy independent source as an
appropriate solution. With moderate socio-economic status and low per capita
electricity consumption of the region, solar micro-energy systems become
promising alternative towards energy reliance of the people of rural north east India
(Fig. 1).
Micro Solar Energy System comprises of products like Solar Home Systems
(SHS), Pico PV (Photovoltaic) and Solar Lanterns (SL) and is the most economical
entry point for solar power applications suitable for rural use. In addition to
Illumination, Pico PV provides Mobile and Lantern charging options with benets
like low-cost and off-grid functionality. Such small-scale energy devices provide a
good scope of opportunity for design customization, and can play a pivotal role in
building energy reliance with high dissemination rate. There are other renewable
energy systems like Solar Mini Grids, Wind, Micro-Hydro and Biomass, but
installation cost of such system is much higher and they have resource specic
limitations within the north eastern region of India.
Basic parts of a Solar Home System consist of photo voltaic module to charge a
battery bank and provides DC output for running luminaries, DC Fan, mobile
charging, LED TV etc. The charge controller is a vital part of the Solar Home
Fig. 1 Need for micro energy based design intervention (Source Author Compilation)
Micro Solar Energy Systems: Product Design Intervention 119
System which controls and regulates the energy to the battery bank. Pico PV is a
small scale portable alternative to Solar Home System which fullls basic energy
need. A solar lantern is a small scale lighting device retained in a housing made of
plastic or metal that encompasses a rechargeable battery and required electronics.
For SL the battery is charged using PV module or the PV module is sometimes
integrated into the solar lantern itself [4].
The most common solar photo voltaic applications executed in the south Asian
region includes solar home systems (SHS), solar lanterns (SL) and solar PV
mini-grids (SMG) [4]. Many studies have emphasized the impact of PV electri-
cation to improve the socio-economic status of the rural area [57] clean energy
supply, protecting indoor air quality and the contribution to greenhouse gasses
alleviation from the use of a kerosene lantern or wick lamp for lighting.
Studies have also revealed that how renewable energy technologies have con-
tributed towards enhancing rural livelihood [79]. A study conducted in
Bangladesh concluded that if Micro Solar Energy Systems are used according to
specication, it can improve the socio-economic status of rural people (Fig. 2).
In poor developing countries micro-solar energy systems are used for out-
spreading light to areas that could not be touched with grid electricity. Given the
scope of customization, Product Design intervention for such Micro Devices
becomes very valuable, considering its importance for base of the pyramid, in this
context the energy deprived rural community of the north-east.
The newness of the idea is in using the design based framework for participatory
development of the rural region and other similar pockets of the country. This paper
focuses on product design intervention to facilitate sustainable development that
utilizes local resources and considers the customized requirement of rural user,
leading to the democratization of design for rural productive use. Proposed Design
Intervention may integrate renewable energy with other development initiatives like
Local Skill Up-gradation, better Socio-Cultural acceptance, and the creation of new
opportunities for livelihood generation.
The paper goes in coherence with current Govt. of India initiatives like Make in
India, National Solar Mission of setting 100 GW of Solar Power by 2022 and
National Skill Development Mission launched in 2015. Such Symbiotic
Relationship between Product Design, Renewable Energy, and Society could
possibly give New Orientation and Value Addition to narrowly focused existing
energy programs of government missing out on to the valuable down to up
approach for design. The participatory approach for decentralized energy
intervention holds good promise for rural development in context of the North-East
Region of India [11].
Local consideration can help poverty reduction by creating an avenue for entre-
preneurial opportunities. North-eastern part of India is quite rich in terms of local
resources like bamboo, which is widely available across the rural domain of the
region and across different parts of India. The country has second-largest bamboo
resource in the world of which two-third lies in north eastern region. It has good
employment potential and major workforces involved are the rural poor [12].
Development of novel applications of such locally abundant resource may full
economic, social and environmental objectives along with cultural and social
growth [13, 14].
Bamboo as material is renewable, widely available, low-cost and eco-friendly.
With the wide range of applications and high renewability, it occupies a signicant
position in twenty rst century [15]. It is an ideal engineering material as its
properties can be adjusted according to different requirements [16]. In south-east
Asia, Parts of Africa and South America it has been traditionally used for long. The
rural population of north-east India owns both supportive knowledge and skills to
use bamboo as material. Since bamboo has major contribution in sustaining rural
economy especially in the north-eastern states, this makes it an ideal choice to be
considered for a design based intervention of micro energy systems in a local
context with advantages like Eco-friendly, low cost, widely accessible and can
support relevant local skills. It offers a great opportunity for micro and small scale
enterprise development.
Framework-based design Intervention for micro solar energy devices fulll the
basic home electricity requirement and have portable off-grid applications like
usage on Fishing boats or in elds. The resultant product can provide on-demand
electricity to charge mobile phones and enable small businesses to operate under
luminaire (Fig. 5). Also the same scope can be extended for other applications like
PV panel stand.
Micro Solar Energy Systems: Product Design Intervention 123
7 Conclusion
scenario but also can be replicated by other developing countries with similar
socio-economic context. It can help existing government policies in creating better
social acceptance of solar PV products for the region. Design development should
consider the fabrication using locally available material and skills. This may sup-
plement lack of local manufacturing capability for north-east India and can also cut
onto existing supply-chain/logistics costs.
The proposed framework provides new scope for renewable energy intervention
at a system design level not seen as it is before. This may address energy poverty
for the region and also serves resultant design in the broader context of rural
development. The framework should initiate new knowledge for social construction
of product design that brings economic, ecological and social prot to all.
References