TANOTPOWERPROJECT.docVIP

INTRODUCTION Tanot village in Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan, India, is one of the most under-developed villages in rural Rajasthan. It covers an area of 74,295.5 hectares, has a population of only 249 (32 households), and has absolutely no power supply (Census of India, Jaisalmer, 1991). It remains cut off from the outside world and has no means of advancing itself. The Government of Rajasthan is launching an ambitious irrigation project to advance agriculture in the state, but Tanot will not be able to use the project to its full advantage if it has no access to power resources. See Appendices C and D for a map of the region and for pictures of villagers. The village lies in an arid region of Rajasthan that is prone to violent sandstorms (Refer to Appendix G for weather data on sandstorms). The mean maximum temperature during the summer lies between 40.5 and 42 degrees Celsius. Winter lasts for only three short months and the mean maximum temperature falls to 24.5 degrees Celsius (Sen, 1972). The region has very low humidity due to which the air is generally very dry (Rajasthan District Gazetteers, 1973) (See Appendix F for temperature data). Winds are generally light in the post-monsoon and winter months. For the rest of the year, winds are moderate getting slightly stronger in the southwest monsoon period. May to September, winds are mainly from directions from south and southwest. In October, winds are light and variable in direction. During the rest of the year, winds are from directions between southwest and northwest (See Appendix E for wind data). See Appendix H for a table of the latest weather conditions in Jaisalmer. PROPOSAL We propose to design a power system for the village that is based on renewable sources of energy. Renewable sources of energy are preferred over non-renewable sources so as to ensure minimum damage to the environment and to provide the most economical long term power at minimal cost. At present, the average per capita domest