At 3:31 PM +0530 13/10/2003, Venkatesh (Venky) Hariharan wrote: > Has anyone on this list come across a deployment of ICT specifically > meant for powering computers in rural areas? I would be interested in > hearing about this.
Venky - you have separately been in direct contact with Udit about using relatively inexpensive solar power panels to recharge batteries that will be part of a direct/alternating current supply for a computer. This can be made to work in a real world scenario by distributing the computers locally within a village (and not putting them in 'special' cybercenters), connecting them using Wi-Fi locally. This means that the network has to be grown outwards from one or more points within the village, since Wi-Fi has an inbuilt signal strength issue. Each node is self contained, and the responsibility for keeping them powered up then becomes the users'. Panels for single computers are not prohibitively expensive (TCO), unlike installations for complete cybercenters, which then naturally become part of a bureaucracy. It takes a bit more thought and effort to get such a network started, but I think in terms of sustainability it is certainly a more attractive proposition. In fact, the process of installation can also trigger off a fresh growth industry - installation services. -- Vickram ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
