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In this paper we describe the motivations and design process for our open-source, low-power, and high-accuracy AC power meters suitable for several different off-grid metering applications. The described metering and switching hardware is more power efficient than off-the-shelf systems with equivalent capability while being able to measure much smaller loads accurately. The metering system we've developed...
Cookstove adoption and cookstove use are two conditions that are not commonly considered when comparing the cost and benefit of rural energy options. This study uses field data on improved cookstoves implemented in a rural West African village to estimate the impact of alternative cooking options prevalent today. Because approximately one-half of women own more than one cookstove, and use each of...
Bangladesh has seen a proliferation of Solar Home System (SHS) in Off-grid areas as a substitute for grid electricity. Along with the demand, supply of low quality SHS components is increasing resulting in decreased SHS efficiency and adverse effect on the country's economy. In this case standard testing methods for the SHS components can help us verify the standard of the components in markets thus...
The global burden of non communicable diseases is rising on the edge. Increasingly, globalization has given rise to unhealthy diets which is one major cause for non communicable disease. Lack of adequate information and nutritional knowledge has largely lead to unhealthy diets in populations. Most nutrition education theories and models lack the adequate matching to individual characteristics to effective...
Selecting power system architectures for rural electrification is a process dependent on several technical, economic, and human resource design requirements. PV-generator-battery systems are common for large village loads while PV-battery systems tend to be preferred for smaller village loads. This study compares three power system architectures (PV-battery, PV-generator-battery, generator only) for...
Reflecting the severity of global food insecurity, over 60% of the East African population is considered malnourished, with many regions in a state of famine. There is broad agreement on the need to help small-scale farmers move from subsistence to sustainable and profitable farming by boosting their agricultural productivity, reducing post-harvest spoilage losses and providing market linkages. Most...
This paper presents an overview of literature on human factors in driving, with a view to introduce systems perspective in driver training and evaluation, as well as the need to review road transport policies in India. There is a steady increase in traffic fatalities in spite of the presence of traffic rules, regulations and legislative systems all over the country. One possible reason for this is...
Grameen Shakti (Energy), one of the companies developed by the 2006 Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus, has since 1996 implemented an effective model to deliver renewable energy to the off-grid areas and rural poor in Bangladesh. The Grameen Shakti renewable energy products include solar electrical energy, biogas cooking fuel, and improved efficiency stoves. The model also includes a social...
The development of an innovative waste-to-energy plant in rural South Africa is now underway. A plan to construct a test unit that uses chicken droppings from a nearby chicken farm as a fuel source is presented. This waste-to-energy plant offers an opportunity to provide economic development and community empowerment. The system is based on two critical components: (1) a power generation plant which...
This paper offers a look at computing technology as it supports global research in health, education, governance and other humanitarian domains. Computing technologies include mobile and web platforms for research tools, data collection tools, data coordinating centers that bring global information together for analysis, and more. Subject areas include the study of health behaviors, establishing good...
Rapid technology innovations in the area of mobile devices and a global shift to an IPv6 networks create new opportunities for developing nations in terms of low-cost IPv4 VOIP communication systems. This paper provides two simple IPv4 VOIP network designs for local communities. Both networks can be connected to an IPv6 infrastructure. Asterisk is chosen as a VOIP PBX, and OpenSER (Kamailio) as a...
The paper adopts a methodology of 'technology survey, research studies & field experiences' to analyze the contributions of ICT towards overall human progress and national development. The paper heeds to first understand the multi-fold humanitarian issues, which are compounded by the digital divide between developed and developing nations. The techniques of measuring these digital divides...
The increasing growth in the population of developing countries, such as Malawi, Africa, combined with a lack of strict environmental safeguards, has given rise to serious concerns about water quality, and the associated threats to human health and the environment. However, analytical data on water quality in these countries are limited, but water quality appears to be degraded with intensive agriculture...
Self organizing mobile Ad-Hoc networks have gained much attention in the last decade particularly due to their ease of deployment in war zones and natural disasters. Because of the fact that the Ad-Hoc network is a virtual network created by the participating nodes, this approach can be applied to remote areas with no fixed networking capability, and is ideal for coordination in remote locations....
This paper presents an effective evolutionary method to solve the Economic Dispatch (ED) problem with units having prohibited operating zones. The Kalman filter is an efficient recursive filter that estimates the state of a dynamic system from a series of noisy measurements in theTotal Power Generation (TPG). ED is an example of a dynamic system algorithm that has been widely used for determination...
Photovoltaic cell is the source of potential energy for the future because it is a renewable energy and pollution free. The potential of photovoltaic cells have not been yet fully tapped due to lack of energy conversion efficiency. However, the recent technology still does not achieve high Watt/m2 and also it is not cost efficient. Nevertheless, accompanied by some losses such as light reflection...
With urban cities grappling with the problem of energy Shortages and many regions in developing countries still remaining unlit and with zero access to electricity, Renewable Energy Sources are the need of the hour. Pedal Power energy is one of the practical solutions to the problem, since bicycles are the main source of transport, especially in rural areas and even in an urban setting, exercise bikes...
As prevalence of dental caries in children rises worldwide, there is an increasing need for a safe, easy to use and cost-effective technique to detect and identify childhood caries at an early stage where remineralization of the tooth is possible and damage may be reversed. We have developed a simple and robust autofluorescence (AF) laboratory device that uses the dental AF spectra from 405 nm and...
This paper proposes an online application that will help the NGOs to centrally monitor and track the progress of their work in a very detailed manner. This will especially benefit the NGOs that work in several locations and are scattered over a large distance. The head of the NGO can personally look into the work going on in all the cities. This online tool will allow different NGOs to create an account...
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