Smart Village Roadmap 2017: Roadmap for Rural Energy Independence

This book describes a meeting of experts in technology, marketing, education and logistics, businesspeople, industrialists, volunteers for Non Governmental Organizations, medical doctors, and social workers. All of us were focused on one objective: develop a roadmap to bring energy independence to rural areas, starting with India’s 660,000 villages. The roadmap is a bottom-up plan that can connect and benefit from the top-down power grid, but is independent of it. It starts with the village school and teacher as the pioneer. In succession, solar photovoltaic power, education and skills training prepare the villager for a climb through technology and enterprise ownership. It proceeds to clean water resources, biogas heat and power, solar thermochemical fuel generation, and rural enterprise. Collaborative micro-financing, Internet of Things connections, BlockChain technology for electronic business, advanced rural-based clean manufacturing, and leap-frog approaches for package delivery and maintenance, drive onwards to a future of plentiful clean energy and reversing urban migration. India will lead the world by example and demonstrate modern villages that respect and nurture ancient culture and tradition. The first 4 test cases of Single Teacher Villages are in place, each with 250 Watts of solar power installed and local villagers trained as installers and maintainers. Another 100 are in preparation with villagers being trained, as the first steps towards the first phase of 660,000. Please join us in this grand enterprise.