Renewable Electricity :Electricity saved is life earned

Renewable Electricity

Metaphor:Electricity saved is life earned

There is no need to mention the pace at which the climate is changing and also the impact it has in our everyday lives. Though there are many factors that are contributing to the climate change, increased consumption of electricity is one of the most significant factors. Urbanization and rapid progress of developing nations are increasing the load on the existing power generation sources which are not able to upgrade and expand at the same pace.

Global energy demand increased by 4% in 2018 or 900TWh, and majority of it is still sourced by coal and gas fired power plants. The increase in the demand is because of the increase constructions in developing countries and due to the increasing the amount of Air conditioner usage because of hot weather conditions. The growth of power production from coal-based power plants was highest in China and India. Though the electricity production by coal is replaced by other green methods across the world, China and India have more than offset the significant reductions. The efficiency is also low in India when compared to other countries. Using modern power plant technology is of paramount importance else the rate of increase in the emissions and wastage of resources would be extremely high.

This of significant concern with respect to the both the short-term and long-term impacts. With the increasing load on the existing power generating sources making them run beyond the efficient bandwidth of production releasing many by products that are harmful to the environment. In the long term these make permanent and irreversible changes to the environment. This leads to the further amplification of the problem with respect to its impact in on the other biological aspects of earth.

The debate whether climate change is real can go on forever, (it is as good as debating about vaccinations being useless) but it is important to act immediately, and initiatives be taken. Otherwise it would remain a problem beyond any solution. It would not just remain a problem, but it would become a matter of survival, where many things would not in our control anymore.

Does it mean that solutions don't exist for the problem or is it not being implemented? If we consider the journey of power consumption, how much does each of the stakeholder in the path have a role in this initiative? Are their motives aligned or not? Will there be a consensus? Will there be a possibility for synergy? Will there be a cost-effective alternative that could impact in a small yet effective way?

The bigger questions are much difficult to answer, but the last question is something that needs to be done.

The solution being proposed is a small-scale solution which can be implemented in the scale of gated communities or housing board colonies. The idea being proposed is to have a pooled electricity grid for each community and let each household be a generator of electricity. The idea is that each house has a solar panel for power generation and all the houses producing the extra power can be stored in the grid. The houses then can convert the power generated into energy credits and can be spent in paying the regular electricity bill. This also gives an added advantage of not using the generators during a power shortage.

Storyboard:

Looks-Like Prototype:

 

The low-cost solution:

The low-cost solution would be to monitor areas that already have a good enough number of solar panels and conduct a concept survey whether people testing whether people would be willing to invest in a grid that would solve both power shortage and other electricity needs. After which, awareness would be generated for the benefits of the solution

Hypothesis that would be tested:

H1: People find solar power grid necessary.

H2: People are not willing to invest in the power grid after knowing the benefits of the solar grid

Assumptions:

1.     The test is being carried out in places like Chandigarh, where solar panels need to be completely installed.

2.     The test would be first conducted in gated communities and/or housing colonies.

Success Metrics:

1.     A significant amount of the population (50%) show interest in the concept

2.     Enough sustenance of basic electric supplies in the households through solar power.