Power to the people – Designing a better prepaid electricity service for rural Indian villages

Abstract

In recent years, frugally-designed solar microgrid electricity services have emerged to meet the need for affordable, reliable electricity services in rural India. However, despite the life-changing benefits of these services and overall customer satisfaction, uptake remains lower than expected. This thesis investigates this phenomena from a human centered design perspective, to examine the role design can play in improving the long-term sustainability of these services.

The research question is investigated through a case study of one such service, operating in four rural villages in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, using a field-based constructive design research approach. One of the key foci is the system’s accessibility by differently-literate users. Through a process of field-based redesign and prototyping of the system’s meter, the thesis provides concrete technological recommendations for addressing accessibility challenges and supporting well-informed energy use decisions. Engagement in this process, along with contextual interviews and observation in the field, led to deeper understanding of everyday energy use issues and concerns of the people, and implications for implementation of microgrid services. Insights and findings are presented with textual and visual narratives to illustrate the daily lives of the participants in relation to the village and household energy context.

The research found that a combination of competing energy sources, extremely cost-conscious consumers, accessibility challenges for differently-literate users, and a preference for better suited lighting products hindered uptake of the microgrid service. Based on these insights, four service design improvements were developed to a design proposal phase. They include the meter redesign, a capacity-building program for the service’s entrepreneurs, an account notification text messag-ing service, and a rechargeable electric lantern.

The thesis includes a discussion of a number of wider systemic considerations in the energy context that influence how rural households relate to and use energy, which are beyond the purview of design to directly influence at the village level. Addressing these will require systemic changes, such as policy reforms, economic development and behavioural change in order to ensure the long-term viability of prepaid solar electricity services. While design alone cannot solve all the challenges facing these services, it can make a valuable contribution to their introduction, enjoyment and long-term sustainability, and thereby significantly improve the lives of the many currently underserved rural Indian villagers.