Investigating Solar Street Lights in Mandi and Kamand An Interactive Qualifying Project submitted

37 Pages·2016·6.8 MB·English

Investigating Solar Street Lights in Mandi and Kamand

An Interactive Qualifying Project
submitted to the Faculty of
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Bachelor of Science

by
Nicolas D. Adami-Sampson (WPI)
Norma C. Bachman (WPI)
Deepika Chaudhry (IIT-Mandi)
Kisna Mahajan (IIT-Mandi)
Benjamin J. McMorran (WPI)

Date:
3rd May 2016

Report Submitted to:

Professors Kunal Ghosh and Aditi Halder
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
and
Professors Stephen McCauley and Ingrid Shockey
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

This report represents work of WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as
evidence of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its web site
without editorial or peer review. For more information about the projects program at
WPI, see http://www.wpi.edu/academics/projects
Investigating Solar Street Lights in Mandi and Kamand

Team Members
Nicolas Adami-Sampson
Norma Bachman
Deepika Chaudhry

Kisna Mahajan
Benjamin McMorran

Project Advisors
Dr. Kunal Ghosh, IIT Mandi
Dr. Aditi Halder, IIT Mandi
Dr. Stephen McCauley, WPI
Dr. Ingrid Shockey, WPI

Submitted
3rd May 2016

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Abstract
Solar street lights are installed throughout Himachal Pradesh, India to promote small-scale solar, but many are broken. We
disassembled lights and conducted interviews with residents and experts to understand the relevant factors, finding that the street light
program suffers from inadequate maintenance and that solar is often not the best lighting choice. Finally, we piloted a training program
for residents to perform light diagnosis and developed an appropriate technology rubric for selecting evening lighting solutions for
Mandi’s slums.

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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for their valuable contributions to our project:

 Our advisors Dr. Kunal Ghosh, Dr. Aditi Halder, Dr. Stephen McCauley, and Dr. Ingrid Shockey for their continued guidance.
 Our TAs Vipul Sharma and Suneel Sharma for assistance with translation.
 All the residents we interviewed for volunteering their time to assist us with our research.
 HIMURJA for meeting with us and helping us understand solar street lights from an institutional perspective.
 Farah Anjum for her assistance with initial pamphlet design.
 Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi for making this project possible.
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Authorship
Nicolas Adami-Sampson contributed to the writing and editing of each section of the report and took photographs of the interviews,
observations, and progress of the project. He conducted data analysis, created the design of the poster, and contributed to the
Educational Guide. He assisted in the disassembly of broken solar street lights.

Norma Bachman contributed to the writing and editing of the Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion as well as
editing of the Introduction. She conducted data analysis and contributed to the Educational Guide. She provided input for the design of
the poster and took photographs of the interviews, observations, and progress of the project. She assisted in the disassembly of broken
solar street lights.

Deepika Chaudhry conducted and translated interviews and constructed recommendations. She assisted in the disassembly of broken
solar street lights and contributed to the Educational Guide.

Kisna Mahajan conducted and translated interviews, documented and analyzed results, and constructed recommendations. He also
assisted in the disassembly of broken solar street lights.

Benjamin McMorran contributed to the writing and editing for each section of the report and took photographs of the interviews,
observations, and progress of the project. He conducted data analysis, provided input for the design of the poster, and contributed to the
Educational Guide. He also assisted in the disassembly of broken solar street lights.
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Table of Contents
Project Report .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
The cloudy state of small-scale solar in Himachal Pradesh ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Solar systems in India: history and progress ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Methodology: technical analysis and interviews ............................................................................................................................................................... 3
Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Objective 1: Understanding technical causes of light failure ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Objective 2: Local perceptions, technical awareness, and capacity .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Objective 3: Development of strategies to improve adoption of solar ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Project Outcomes........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Solar street lights in Himachal Pradesh: a critical review ............................................................................................................................................................... 10
Improving community maintenance capacity through local education .................................................................................................................................... 11
Evening lighting needs in the Mandi Town slums .............................................................................................................................................................................. 13
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
References ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Supplemental Materials .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Interview Questions for Residents ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Residential Interview Response Sheet ................................................................................................................................................................................ 18
Interview Questions for HIMURJA ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Educational Guide for Light Diagnosis (English) ............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Educational Guide for Light Diagnosis (Hindi) ................................................................................................................................................................. 21
Educational Guide Usability Questionnaire ....................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Interview Questions for Slum Technology Assessment ................................................................................................................................................. 24
Slum Lighting Appropriate Technology Rubric ................................................................................................................................................................ 25
Poster ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Fieldwork Photos ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 27

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Project blasting, and geographically
consolidated power generation (Times
of India, 2013; Thukur, 2015).
Report
Recognizing these vulnerabilities,
Himachal Pradesh has developed a solar
The cloudy state of power policy to diversify its energy
supply. Solar panels do not have the
small-scale solar in
geographic restrictions associated with
Himachal Pradesh hydroelectric power generation, and can
be used anywhere with ample sunlight.
Solar powered street lights have
Even at a small scale, solar systems can
been installed throughout Himachal
bolster energy resilience within
Pradesh by the Himachal Pradesh
Figure 1. A broken solar street light
communities and reduce dependence on
Energy Development Agency
with a missing battery any one source. Small-scale systems like
(HIMURJA). Installations range from
adoption of small-scale solar in the street lights provide potential for
small-scale village settings to urbanized
region. building capacity within the community
centers such as the town of Mandi.
The state of Himachal Pradesh for maintenance and repair, reducing
These lights are useful since they
wants to increase the use of solar power, reliance on external and often unreliable
operate even if the local grid is down,
but adoption has been slow. While there government services. Communities and
can be installed in remote areas, and
are a few communities that do not have government both play a role in the
promote energy resilience within a
adequate electricity, 99.7% of villages in development of small-scale solar
community. However, as seen in Figure
Himachal Pradesh are connected to the systems. Our research focused on
1, many solar lights have been in
power grid (Central Electricity understanding the social and technical
disrepair for years. This may contribute
Authority, 2015B). Over 75% of this factors necessary to improve and
to lowered community appreciation of
power is derived from hydroelectric support these systems.
solar technology. Understanding how
sources (Central Electricity Authority,
they are maintained, why these lights
Solar systems in India:
2015A). While the abundance and
fail, and how residents perceive their
usefulness is key for assessing the renewable nature of hydroelectric history and progress
power make it an attractive option,
benefits communities receive from solar
Solar electric systems can
infrastructure development has resulted
street lights and possibly for the future
generate power either indirectly with
in community displacement,
concentrated solar power (CSP)
environmental damage, frequent
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systems, which use the sun to generate a secure, scalable, and renewable
heat and drive a turbine, or directly with alternative for India’s growing energy
photovoltaic (PV) systems, which use needs (Ministry of New and Renewable
the physical properties of Energy, 2010). While solar is a good fit
semiconductors to directly create a for India as a whole, the situation is less
voltage (see Figures 2 and 3) (Singh, clear in the state of Himachal Pradesh
2013). The lack of moving parts, rugged due to plentiful cheap hydroelectric
design, long effective life, and modular power (see Figure 4). However, in its
nature of PV give these systems low 2014 solar power policy, the state
maintenance costs and high reliability, recognized the environmental concerns
making solar ideal for off-grid Figure 3. A 4 MW PV installation in associated with hydroelectric power,
applications. Solar has also found uses Tamil Nadu, India (Vinaykumar8687, and that solar is important “to reduce
on the electric grid. Grid-connected 2014) (Wikimedia Commons) the vulnerability of the system”
systems are becoming more feasible as (Government of Himachal Pradesh,
conversion efficiency of solar cells is
the production cost of PV panels drops, 2014, p. 3). This vulnerability extends to
typically around 14 - 19%, while large
but solar power is still typically more individual communities, which should
hydropower installations like those in
expensive than electricity from be protected from reliance on a single
Himachal Pradesh can be as efficient as
conventional sources. The energy system.
90% (Razykov et al., 2011; U.S.
HIMURJA supports this
Department of Interior, 2005).
diversification by promoting and
Nonetheless, there is rapid growth of 30
popularizing new and renewable
to 40% annually in the global PV
sources of energy in the state. One
industry (Razykov et al., 2011).
component of the HIMURJA plan is the
For India as a whole, the benefits
distribution of solar PV street light
of solar power outweigh the drawbacks.
systems. As of 2014, there were 44,338
In 2010, the national government
solar street lights in the state, along with
announced the Jawaharlal Nehru
22,586 solar interior lights and 32,649
National Solar Mission, a plan to grow
solar lanterns (Singh, 2014). Street
India’s solar power output from nearly
lights are widely distributed throughout
Figure 2. Parabolic mirrors focus the non-existent to 20 gigawatts by 2022
the state, including in villages, along
sun at a 50 MW CSP installation in through a combination of on and off-grid
roadways, and in concentrated
Rajasthan, India (Pearson, 2013) systems. The mission identifies solar as
installations at urban centers. The street

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Another report from the concerns that residents face are
India found that more independent of cultural and socio-
than 70% of residential economic conditions. Without proper
respondents showed communication between stakeholders,
some favour towards Mandi and Kamand can experience the
solar panels with same disturbances in social norms,
negligible opposition, infrastructure, and reliability. In
but also that addition, stakeholders themselves are
respondents held often capable of learning how to install
many misconceptions and maintain solar systems, but simply
about the technology lack the training to do so. Barefoot
Figure 4. Installed capacity of power utilities in Himachal (Mercom College, a training institute in India, has
Pradesh (Central Electricity Authority, 2015A) Communications India, shown “that both illiterate and semi-
2014). literate men and women can fabricate,
light systems can introduce
With these issues in mind, install, use, repair and maintain
communities to solar power, and are a
community involvement and acceptance sophisticated solar units through basic
good fit for regions that are “electrified”
is key for successful implementation of knowledge share and hands-on practical
but have unreliable or unstable grid
renewable technologies. A case study training” (Barefoot College, 2015).
connections (Jain et al., 2015).
with residents of a community in Teaching rural residents to perform
While solar street lights are
Germany indicated that participants maintenance on their own better
widely installed, they are not well
were more accepting of new technology positions their respective communities
maintained. This may be due in part to a
if they were actively involved in the for reliable, sustainable small-scale
lack of planning or perception of
entire implementation process in solar.
benefits among local residents. Recent
collaboration with local authorities
reports indicate that residents seem to
Methodology: technical
(Zoellner, Schweizer - Ries, &
lack knowledge about the full benefits of
Wemheuer, 2008). A lack of analysis and interviews
solar power, but are responsive when
communication can result in reduced
informed (Mercom Communications Our goal for this project was to
quality of life for residents by
India, 2014). According to one study, the use solar street lights as a model for
“undesired changes of the landscape, by
government has also not been understanding the social and technical
noise, or by transport issues” (Zoellner
informative about the solar subsidies factors that impede continued adoption
et al., 2008, p. 1). While this review
available to individuals (Kumar, 2014). of small-scale solar technology in
evaluated German respondents, many of
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Himachal Pradesh. We broke this goal fixture with enclosed charging circuitry. through the IIT. Samples of convenience
down into three objectives with We measured the open circuit voltage of were used in all locations along with
accompanying strategies shown in the panel and battery, as well as the snowball sampling where applicable. IIT
Figure 5. charging voltage from the light fixture. students conducted the interviews and
Isolated solar street light systems We also checked for continuity in wires translated the responses. Interview
are currently installed in many locations connecting circuit elements. These questions captured basic demographic
throughout the region, including on the measurements were used to diagnose information, awareness and perception
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) which component in the light was faulty. of solar street light systems including
Mandi campus, at several temples in Voltages and continuity were measured their history at the site, and level of
Mandi town, and in surrounding using multimeters available on campus. understanding of photovoltaic
villages. We performed a rapid We used semi-structured technology itself. With permission,
assessment of the reliability of several interviews with residential subjects to smartphones were used to record audio
installations by counting and labeling learn about the local perception and for reference. All records were securely
the non-functional lights at night. We awareness of solar street lights (see stored and numeric identifiers were
disassembled several non-functional Figure 6). Interviews were conducted in used instead of names.
campus lights and measured their the villages of Nehri, Katindi, Nisu, We also conducted a semi-
technical characteristics. These systems Dhuki, Dudar, Sandoa, Kataula, the structured interview with an expert at
consist of three major components: a temple at Prashar Lake, and the slums in HIMURJA in Mandi Town about the state
solar PV panel, a battery, and a light Mandi Town with travel arranged of solar deployment in the region, its
challenges, and suggestions for
improvement. This interview was
designed to provide more background
and context to the problems described
by residents in earlier interviews.
Finally, we used the knowledge
gained from light disassembly and
interviews to develop educational
materials suitable for training local
residents how to diagnose and repair
broken solar street lights on their own.
We tested these educational materials in
Figure 5. Outline of goal, objectives, and strategies the field by returning to some of the
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