The Vasudha Project

Helping the rural citizens of

India access and utilize
green energy

Kevin Peer​
Amity Global School Noida
Abstract​
​
While there are many social issues present in India to base my Vasudha project
on one that I was particularly interested in, which was the lack of access to
clean energy for the rural citizens of India, my project aims to introduce
innovative solutions that empower communities while prioritizing
sustainability. Action on an issue such as this would require large-scale action
from the government with a lot of investment. I wanted to come up with
something that was smaller scale and cheaper which could be easier to fund
and organize for the government and could ease them into transitioning into
taking larger action in the future.

Within the theme of Green Fuel, the project delves into creating self-sustaining
substations powered by solar panels. These substations will be tailored to fulfill
specific energy requirements for daily tasks people need to do such as heating,
cooling, cooking, water purification, wifi, and charging devices.

By making detailed designs that fit the specific requirements of the people and
the surroundings and conducting calculations for energy needs and
construction expenses, the project highlights the feasibility of its approach and
its potential to be scaled and adapted across India. The project addresses the
energy poverty prevalent in rural India, this project aims to provide sustainable
and clean energy to people who can't afford it, breaking the cycle of limited
access to modern amenities and clean energy. The project also helps the
government transition India to have greener energy sources available to
people of all economic backgrounds

This idea follows the core Ideas and values of the Vasudha project as it uses
Science, technology, and mathematics to help create change and lead us in
our journey to making a future with a more cleaner and equitable energy
landscape.
Table of Contents

1 Statement of Purpose

2 Hypothesis

3 Research

4 Materials / Work Plan

5 Methodology / Procedure

6 Observation & Results including Data Analysis

7 Conclusion / Solution of the Problem

8 Reference

9 Follow-up
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank our respected Chairperson Ma'am Dr. (Mrs.) Amita
Chauhan for giving us this opportunity under the Amity Children Science
Foundation. My sincere gratitude to our loving Principal ma'am Ms. Anita Paul
our Science Coordinator and teacher in charge [Link] Mishra and our HRT
[Link] Goel and parents for their constant encouragement and guidance.

Statement of Purpose ​
In this project, I will create detailed designs for 3-4 self-sufficient stations that
use green energy to address the needs of rural Indian citizens such as cooking,
water purification, device-charging, productivity, heating, and others. They
will be created to be as cost-efficient as I can and calculate the cost for each
station.

Hypothesis ​
If my project is implemented, I predict an increase in the accessibility of
essential amenities and services for rural communities, driven by reliable and
environmentally-friendly electrical power. These government-funded
community stations will work as small-scale investments for the government
to test the feasibility and effectiveness of renewable energy and help
transition the country to a national electrical grid that is fully powered by
green energy.

Research​
I plan to make 3-4 different stations powered by renewable resources that will
help serve a useful service to a community. My first task was to research and
find what amenities my target audience (people living in Rural and remote
places) lacked the most. To answer this I used primary and secondary research
both. I searched and went through reports and research projects and
conducted a physical survey with my target audience by creating a short
survey and interviewing my target audience. Here are the questions I asked in
the survey and their results:
I collected these answers by going to all the security guards, maids, gardeners,
etc that work in my society and recording their answers on my phone in a
Google Forms I created. Similarly, I went to my grandparents and uncle’s
societies to get a larger sample size of 139 people.

The survey results above showed a lack of green energy and energy for the
rural citizens of India. This is also backed by official sources. According to
research conducted by IJERA, “7 out of 29 states have more than 70% of rural
households without access to electricity”.
([Link] › papers › Vol4_issue12)

The situation for green energy is even dire. According to research done by the
National Resources Defence Council “Despite the significant progress, energy
poverty persists in rural India. Villages still lack access to reliable and
affordable energy. Polluting diesel and solid fuels account for the main sources
of energy with limited clean energy options”.
([Link]
ry-rural-india#:~:text=Despite%20the%20significant%20progress%2C%20ener
gy,also%20have%20meek%20job%20opportunities.)
After analysing these answers and the information I found online I concluded
that while a decent amount of houses in these places receive energy it is often
in limited amounts and almost none of it is green energy. The reason that the
data I found online and the survey results don’t fully match could be because
the people I interviewed don’t currently live in remote villages as they work in
urban areas, thus most of their homes are not in remote locations. However,
that doesn’t mean the surveys were pointless as their main objective was to
find the facilities and amenities that I could make my stations provide. After
looking at the results I settled on the most common responses which were:
Water purification, cooking facilities, wifi, heating and cooling, and general
electricity.

Next, I researched the most efficient method of collecting green energy along
with the electric components and devices required to convert it to usable AC
and DC currents. Through research, I was able to make a general connection to
convert energy from solar panels to AC and DC with a battery so that stations
are able to provide power even in the dark. Below is a diagram of the basic
backbone of the wiring of each station. I will attach different AC and DC loads
in each station depending on the purpose of the station.

For further help, I also spoke to my grandfather (a retired civil engineer) and a
hardware store employee to help me decide the proper materials and electrical
components for my designs and estimate their costs.
Procedure
First station:
The first station will be a productivity station. The station should have lighting,
cooling, wifi, and charging outlets. I first calculated the energy requirements
per hour:

Adding up the list we will get a total energy requirement for a maximum use
scenario (when all the devices are being used at maximum capacity;
something unlikely to happen most days) of 732 Wh. The highest contributor
of which are the charging outlets. I have approximated a requirement of 60
Wh keeping in mind that this is the most that could be needed by a laptop in
the budget of my target audience.
Below is a store image of the solar panel I plan to use:

This solar panel can produce 535-550 W per hour and costs 100 USD (~8,300
rupees) per unit. According to this, I would need 2 solar panels to cover the
maximum capacity scenario requirements and have a good amount of extra
power. With all this in mind, I created a rough design of the station.
Here are the design’s dimensions:

Using The basic backbone I had created earlier I then went to start searching
for the most cost-effective electric components(included in the drawing) that
would work for this design.

To regulate each person’s internet usage to prevent over-utilisation. I designed

a wifi log-in portal which would limit the amount of time each device can use
the internet to 3 hours for every 12 hours. This system will have people log in
with their Adhar card numbers (or other national ID numbers) and verify them
using the government's databases. This prevents nefarious activities as now all
activities can be tracked with the user’s ID.

Second station:
I then made the second design which was for cooking and water purification.
This station contains 6 individual cooking stations, 3 sinks (with hot and cold
water), a water filter (with hot and cold water), fans, lights, and another user
portal similar to the previous one which works on an in-built touchscreen
device in the station to monitor people’s use of the station.
Here are the dimensions for this station:

This station had both electrical components and plumbing components so I

was careful to dedicate separate spaces to each of them. The on which
everything is kept will house the plumbing elements and will be sealed off from
the back which will house the electrical components. Here are the designs for
both of them.
Station 3:
Finally, I created the third design which was for heating. This station contains
10 individual rechargeable modules that are portable heaters. These heaters
will work for 4 and a half hours at 800W which should be more than enough
to heat small rooms. This station was made as people in remote and rural
areas often use fires or oil lamps to keep warm in winter, which are both
unsafe at night when everyone’s asleep. Reliable and efficient electronic
heaters would help them a lot, however, electric heaters take a lot of power,
thus I created these modules. This station also has a touchscreen user portal
like the previous ones.

Additionally, this station can be alternated for a different purpose as well as

the heater can be switched out for electrical outlets which can be used to
power almost any household device with the module's battery. Below are the
design details.
Materials
After designing the station I began calculating the costs. For this, I needed to
find out the specifications of each design such as the kind of wiring I wanted
to use, and the most cost-effective electrical components like batteries,
inverters, charge controllers, etc. I also took the help of my grandfather and a
local construction retailer to ask them about the quantities and prices of
generic structural items that would be needed for my design such as
insulation, paint, protective finish, mounting and frame, concrete, etc. With
the help of these 2 primary sources and additional information found online, I
was able to approximately calculate the cost of these stations, excluding labor
costs as they are not usually predictable and fluctuate from provider to
provider. Additionally, each design has variations that have different costs.
Station 1: Original (Can support 8 people at a time)

Station 1: Smaller scale (Can support 4 people at a time)

Station 1: Fully covered structure with bricks instead of vinyl curtains
(Can support 8 people at a time)
Station 2: Original
Station 3: Original and alternative design
(cost approximately the same as most components are not changed)
Observations and Results / Future Prospects
Since this project has not been implicated in real life I can’t compare any
results but this project has a lot of prospects. This project is by nature scalable.
They are small-scale investments that can help the government find out
whether renewable resources are feasible in real life. My designs can be used
as a proof of concept for public and private investors to invest in renewable
energy and can help transition the government into making large-scale
investments in this issue.

Conclusion
After completing the first design and calculating its costs I started reflecting
only on learning and I realized that through this project I learned a lot about
the effort it takes to fully design something a functional project. I haven't had
similar school projects before this but none to this detail. I want to pursue a
career in design and I feel like this project gave me a lot of insight into how the
process works. I have attended workshops discussing the design cycle and all
but doing the process allowed me to gain a much deeper understanding of it. I
learned about ideation and coming up with effective ways to solve a solution
by going down to its root causes. I learned that you can never create the
perfect design or plan for anything in this project I created multiple versions of
every design constantly updating them as I came up with more flaws in them. I
also learned about finances and cost management. However, I cannot truly
conclude whether the hypothesis was correct or not as I have no way of
actually finding out how effective the station would be unless we make it and
implement it.
References
- I consulted my grandfather while creating the circuits and finding the
electrical components of the station. He is a primary source as he is a retired
civil engineer.

- I also consulted a local hardware and lumber retailer to help me estimate the
quantity and prices of different parts of the station. He is a primary resource
because he is the manager of a store that often helps customers make choices
for projects like these.

- I also used a lot of secondary sources in the form of online websites and
stores to find different electrical components and data to support my project.
 Works Cited

“A Holistic Approach to Rural Development in India.” Hindustan Times, 23 Nov. 2023,

[Link]/ht-insight/climate-change/a-holistic-approach-to-rural-development-in-

[Link]. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Basic Facilities in India for Rural Development*.

[Link]/IJARER/PDF/2017/April/[Link],

[Link]

GOVERNMENT of INDIA MINISTRY of RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT of RURAL

DEVELOPMENT.

Kumar, Arjun. “Rural Households’ Access to Basic Amenities in India: Deprivation and Socio-Economic

Exclusions.” Social Change, vol. 45, no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 561–586,

[Link] Accessed 28 Aug. 2019.

Mahenthiran, T, and M Phil. A Synoptic Look on Rural Development through Provision of Urban

Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) in Thanjavur District.

Pioneer, The. “Basic Amenities Still a Daydream for Hundreds of Villages.” The Pioneer,

[Link]/2017/state-editions/basic-amenities-still-a-daydream-for-hundreds-of-villa

[Link]. Accessed 4 May 2024.

“Service Provision in Rural Areas Concepts from Vital Rural Area.” [Link],

[Link]/scientific-articles/238-service-provision-in-rural-areas-concepts-from-vital

-rural-area.

Varma, Alok. “Rural Revitalisation: The Key Enabling Factor for the Overall Development of India.” The

Times of India,

[Link]/blogs/voices/rural-revitalisation-the-key-enabling-factor-for-the-over

all-development-of-india/. Accessed 4 May 2024.